Substrate processing apparatus

ABSTRACT

A substrate processing apparatus including a frame, a first SCARA arm connected to the frame, including an end effector, configured to extend and retract along a first radial axis; a second SCARA arm connected to the frame, including an end effector, configured to extend and retract along a second radial axis, the SCARA arms having a common shoulder axis of rotation; and a drive section coupled to the SCARA arms is configured to independently extend each SCARA arm along a respective radial axis and rotate each SCARA arm about the common shoulder axis of rotation where the first radial axis is angled relative to the second radial axis and the end effector of a respective arm is aligned with a respective radial axis, wherein each end effector is configured to hold at least one substrate and the end effectors are located on a common transfer plane.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/579,067 filed on Dec. 22, 2014 (now U.S. Pat. No. 9,230,841) which isa continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/417,837 filed Mar. 12,2012 (now U.S. Pat. No. 8,918,203) which is a non-provisional of U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 61/451,912 filed on Mar. 11, 2011 andis related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/293,717 filed Nov. 10,2011 entitled “DUAL ARM ROBOT,” the disclosures of which areincorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

The aspects of the disclosed embodiment generally relate to substrateprocessing tools and, more particularly, to substrate transportapparatus.

2. Brief Description of Related Developments

Generally in substrate processing systems the rotation of arms oftransfer robots with multiple arms are linked to one another so as onearm rotates the other arm(s) rotates as well. The end effectors of thetransfer robots are generally located in different planes so that a fastswap (e.g. one end effector radially passes over/under the other endeffector so that as one substrate is removed from a holding stationanother substrate is substantially simultaneously placed at the holdingstation) of substrates to and from holding locations generally occursusing either a Z axis capability of the transfer robot or holdingstation.

It would be advantageous to decouple the rotation of the arms ofsubstrate transfer robots so that each arm is capable of independentoperation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing aspects and other features of the disclosed embodimentsare explained in the following description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of a substrate processingapparatus in accordance with an aspect of the disclosed embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a substrate transport apparatus in accordance with an aspectof the disclosed embodiment;

FIG. 2A illustrates a substrate transport apparatus in accordance withan aspect of the disclosed embodiment;

FIGS. 2B-2J illustrates a substrate transport apparatus in accordancewith an aspect of the disclosed embodiment;

FIGS. 2K and 2L illustrate graphs showing end effector rotation inaccordance with aspects of the disclosed embodiment;

FIGS. 2M-2O are illustrations of end effector rotation in accordancewith an aspect of the disclosed embodiment;

FIGS. 2P and 2Q illustrate end effectors in accordance with aspects ofthe disclosed embodiments;

FIGS. 3, 3A and 3B schematically illustrate a drive section and arms ofa substrate transport apparatus in accordance with aspects of thedisclosed embodiment;

FIGS. 3C-3H illustrate a drive section of a substrate transportapparatus in accordance with an aspect of the disclosed embodiment;

FIGS. 4 and 4A-4G illustrate an exemplary operation of the substratetransport apparatus of FIG. 2 in accordance with an aspect of thedisclosed embodiment;

FIG. 4H illustrates a side view of a transport chamber in accordancewith an aspect of the disclosed embodiment;

FIGS. 4I-4O illustrate an exemplary operation of a transport apparatusin accordance with aspects of the disclosed embodiment;

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate a substrate transport apparatus in accordancewith an aspect of the disclosed embodiment;

FIGS. 5C, 5D and 5E illustrate a substrate transport apparatus inaccordance with an aspect of the disclosed embodiment;

FIGS. 5F and 5G illustrate an exemplary operation of the transportapparatus of FIGS. 5C-5E;

FIG. 6 illustrates a drive section of a substrate transport apparatus inaccordance with an aspect of the disclosed embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a schematic illustration of an exemplary transfer armextension into a processing module in accordance with an aspect of thedisclosed embodiment;

FIGS. 8-10 are schematic illustrations of transfer chambers inaccordance with an aspect of the disclosed embodiment;

FIG. 11 illustrates a sensor system in accordance with an aspect of thedisclosed embodiment;

FIG. 12 illustrates a substrate transport apparatus in accordance withan aspect of the disclosed embodiment;

FIG. 13 is a schematic illustration of a substrate processing system inaccordance with an aspect of the disclosed embodiment;

FIG. 14 is a schematic illustration of a substrate transport apparatusof FIG. 13 in accordance with an aspect of the disclosed embodiment;

FIGS. 14A and 14B are schematic illustrations of a substrate transportapparatus of FIG. 13 in accordance with an aspect of the disclosedembodiment;

FIGS. 14C and 14D are schematic illustrations of substrate transportapparatus drive systems in accordance with aspects of the disclosedembodiment;

FIGS. 15A and 15B illustrate arm extension and retraction paths for thesubstrate transport apparatus of FIG. 13 in accordance with an aspect ofthe disclosed embodiment;

FIGS. 16A-16G are schematic illustrations of portions of a substratetransport apparatus in accordance with an aspect of the disclosedembodiment;

FIGS. 17A-17C are schematic illustrations of portions of a substratetransport apparatus in accordance with an aspect of the disclosedembodiment;

FIG. 18 is a schematic illustration of a substrate processing system inaccordance with an aspect of the disclosed embodiment; and

FIGS. 19A-19E are schematic illustrations of a substrate transportapparatus in accordance with an aspect of the disclosed embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of a substrate processingapparatus 100 incorporating features of the disclosed embodiments, and asubstrate 215 is illustrated. Although the disclosed embodiment will bedescribed with reference to the drawings, it should be understood thatthe disclosed embodiment can be have many alternate forms. In addition,any suitable size, shape or type of elements or materials could be used.

For purposes of the aspects of the disclosed embodiment describedherein, substrate 215 may be for example, a semiconductor wafer, such asa 200 mm, 300 mm, 450 mm or any other desired diameter substrate, anyother type of substrate suitable for processing by substrate processingapparatus 100, a blank substrate, or an article having characteristicssimilar to a substrate, such as certain dimensions or a particular mass.Substrate processing apparatus 100 is a representative substrateprocessing tool, shown as having a general batch processing toolconfiguration. In alternate embodiments, the substrate apparatus may beof any desired type such as sorter, stocker, metrology tool, etc. Inthis embodiment, apparatus 100 may generally have an atmospheric section105, for example forming a mini-environment and an adjoiningatmospherically isolatable or sealed (e.g. sealed from an externalatmosphere) section (e.g. atmospherically sealed section) 110, which forexample may be equipped to function as a vacuum chamber. In alternateembodiments, the atmospherically sealed section 110 may hold an inertgas (e.g. N₂) or any other isolated atmosphere.

In an aspect of the disclosed embodiment, atmospheric section 105typically has one or more substrate holding cassettes 115, and anatmospheric robot 120. The atmospheric robot 120 may be any suitablerobot. For exemplary purposes only the atmospheric robot may besubstantially similar to transfer robot 130, 530 described below. Theatmospheric robot 120 may be adapted to transport substrates to anylocation within atmospheric section 105. For example, atmospheric robot120 may transport substrates among substrate holding cassettes 115, loadlock 135, and load lock 140. The atmospheric robot 120 may alsotransport substrates 215 to and from an aligner 162 located within theatmospheric section 105.

Atmospherically sealed section 110 may have one or more processingmodules PM1-PM6 (generally referred to herein as processing modules125), and a vacuum robot 130. The processing modules 125 may be of anytype such as material deposition, etching, baking, polishing, ionimplantation cleaning, etc. As may be realized the position of eachprocessing module 125, with respect to a desired reference frame, suchas the robot reference frame, may be registered with controller 170. Inone aspect of the disclosed embodiment one or more of the processmodules may also perform a processing operation on substrates within thesubstrate processing apparatus 100 that is different than otherprocessing operations performed by the other processing modules. Theoperation associated with each of the process modules 125 may also beregistered with the controller 170. In alternate embodiments theprocessing modules may perform the same processing operations.Atmospherically sealed section 110 may also have one or moreintermediate chambers, referred to as loadlocks 135, 140. The embodimentshown in FIG. 1 has two loadlocks, but in other aspects theatmospherically sealed section 110 may have any suitable number ofloadlocks. Loadlocks 135 and 140 operate as interfaces, allowingsubstrates to pass between atmospheric section 105 and atmosphericallysealed section 110 without violating the integrity of any vacuum orother atmosphere sealed within the atmospherically sealed section 110.In accordance with an aspect of the disclosed embodiment the processingmodules and/or the loadlocks may be arranged on a common substratetransport plane (e.g. transport paths for substrates to and from themodules may be co-planar).

Substrate processing apparatus 100 generally includes a controller 170that controls the operation of substrate processing apparatus 100.Controller 170 has a processor 173 and a memory 178. The memory 178 mayinclude computer readable code for effecting the operation of thesubstrate processing apparatus 100 and its components as describedherein. For example, memory 178 may further include processingparameters, such as temperature and/or pressure of processing modules,and other portions or stations of sections 105, 110 of the apparatus,temporal information of the substrate(s) 215 being processed and metricinformation for the substrates, etc. In one aspect of the disclosedembodiment the controller 170 may have a clustered architecture such asthat described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/178,615, entitled“Scalable Motion Control System” and filed on Jul. 11, 2005, thedisclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.In other aspects, the controller may have any suitable controlarchitecture.

Referring also to FIG. 2, in one aspect of the disclosed embodiment, thetransfer robot 130 (which may be substantially similar to atmosphericrobot 120) may include a drive section 150 and one or more arms 155A,155B. The arms 155A, 155B may be attached to a drive section 150 having,for example, a three or four axis drive system as will be describedbelow. The arms 155A, 155B, shown for example in the Figs. as three linkSCARA arms, may be coupled co-axially to the drive section 150, and maybe vertically stacked on top of each other to allow for independenttheta motion (using e.g. a four axis drive) or coupled theta motion(using e.g. a three axis drive) where the coupled theta motion isrotation of the robot arms as a unit about the shoulder axis SXsubstantially without extension or retraction. Each arm is driven by apair of motors and may have any suitable drive pulley arrangement. Inone aspect the diameter ratio between the shoulder pulley, elbow pulleyand wrist pulley for each arm may be, for non-limiting exemplarypurposes, a 1:1:2 ratio or a 2:1:2 ratio. To extend each arm using, e.g.the 1:1:2 ratio each motor in the pair of motors is rotated insubstantially equal and opposite directions. To extend each arm using,e.g., the 2:1:2 ratio the shoulder pulley is held substantially fixed(e.g. substantially does not rotate) and the motor coupled to the upperarm is rotated to extend the arm. Theta motion is controlled by rotatingthe motors in the same direction substantially at the same speed. Wherethe end effectors are on the same plane, as described herein, the thetamotion of each of the arms relative to each other is limited, howeverthe arms can move infinitely in theta if the arms are moved together. Asmay be realized, where the end effectors are not on the same plane, asalso described below, each arm can move infinitely in theta when eacharm is driven independent of the other arm such as when using the fouraxis drive.

It is noted that the upper arm 155UA, 155UB and forearm 155FA, 155FB ofthe respective arms 155A, 155B may be substantially equal in length orunequal in length. For example, the upper arms 155UA, 155UB may belonger than the forearms 155FA, 155FB or vice versa. One example, ofunequal length arms is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/179,762 entitled “Unequal Link Scara Arm” and filed on Jul. 11, 2005,the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in itsentirety.

As a non-limiting example, referring to FIG. 2 (also see FIG. 4), withrespect to the substantially equal length arm sections the distance L1between the shoulder axis SX and each of the elbow axes EXA, EXB may besubstantially the same as the distance L2 between each of the elbow axesEXA, EXB and a respective one of the wrist axes WXA, WXB. As an example,with respect to the unequal length arm sections (see FIG. 2A), thedistance L1 between the shoulder axis SX and each of the elbow axes EXA,EXB may be greater or less than the distance L2′ between each of theelbow axes EXA, EXB and a respective one of the wrist axes WXA, WXB (inFIG. 2A the distance L2′ is greater). As may be realized, where theforearm section length is greater than the respective upper arm sectionlength, the wrist axes WXA, WXB are allowed to retract to a greaterextent than if the forearms and upper arms have substantially the samelengths. For example, where the end effectors 155EA, 155EB aresubstantially in the same plane as described herein, the swing radiusdiameter may be limited by the substrate diameter and the wrist insteadof, for example, the elbows of the arms. To minimize the swing radiusthe retract position of the arm is minimized so that the wafer center isas close as possible to the robot center of rotation SX at the robotretract position. Making, for example, the forearm length L2, L2′ largerthan the length L1 of the upper arms allows each substantially coplanarwrist to further retract when compared to the arms having substantiallyequal forearm and upper arm lengths.

In one aspect of the disclosed embodiment (with substantially equallength or unequal length arm links) allow for the substrate center toperform a radial path from the retract position to a radially locatedstation (e.g. radially located with respect to the shoulder axis SX ofthe robot). It is noted that the amount of substrate rotation along theradial path can be minimized along the path through a suitable “gear”ratio between, e.g., the elbow pulleys and 383, 389 (FIG. 3A) and therespective wrist pulleys 384, 399 (FIG. 3A). Using a suitable pulleyratio substrate rotation can be substantially eliminated at the stationwhere the end effector path ends. Using unequal length upper arm andforearm links as an example and referring to FIG. 2K, the amount ofrotation of the end effector about the center of the substrate (e.g.wafer rotation) is shown for, e.g., a 2:1 elbow/wrist pulley ratio.Referring also to FIG. 2L the amount of rotation of the end effectorabout the center of the substrate is shown for, e.g., a 1.7:1elbow/wrist pulley ratio. FIGS. 2M-2O show an extension of arm 155Abetween fully retracted and fully extended positions using, e.g. the1.7:1 elbow/wrist ratio such that the wafer rotates by, for example, amaximum of 2.5 degrees. It is noted that the above pulley diameterratios are exemplary only and it should be understood that the pulleyscan have any suitable diameter ratio. It is also noted that the rotationof the substrate during extension can be minimize with respect to upperarms and forearms having substantially the same length in a mannersubstantially similar to that described above.

The end effectors may be configured in any suitable manner for holdingone or more substrates 215. For example, the end effectors 155EA, 155EBare shown as having a single blade for holding a single substrate but itshould be understood that the end effectors can have multiple blades forholding multiple substrates. As an example, the end effector 155EH (FIG.2P) may have any suitable number of substrate holding blades BH1, BH2arranged horizontally in a row for holding multiple substrates side byside or the end effector 155EV (FIG. 2Q) may have any suitable number ofsubstrate holding blades BV1, BV2 arranged vertically in a stack forholding multiple substrates one above the other. In one aspect, the endeffectors 155EA, 155EB may be edge gripping, vacuum gripping, activegripping or passive gripping end effectors. In one aspect of thedisclosed embodiment, the end effectors may be coupled to respectiveones of the upper arms 155UA, 155UB and forearms 155FA, 155FB so thatthe end effectors have a predetermined angular relationship. Forexample, referring to FIGS. 2B-2F an angle θ between the end effectorsmay be any suitable angle. In one aspect the angle θ between endeffectors 155EA, 155EB may be substantially the same as the angle θ′between radially arranged process modules, such as process modules PM25,PM26 of, for example, cluster tool 100′. For exemplary purposes only,the angle θ and/or angle θ′ may be about 60 degrees but in other aspectsthe angle may be more or less than 60 degrees. As may be realized thearms 155A, 155B may be configured such that the angle θ between endeffectors 155EA, 155EB is substantially maintained when both arms 155A,155B are retracted (FIGS. 2C and 2E), when both arms 155A, 155B areextended (FIG. 2D), and when one arm 155B is retracted and the otherarms 155A is extended (FIG. 2B) at least with respect to when the armsare positioned to access adjacent processing modules. As may berealized, where each arm is independently rotatable about the shoulderaxis SX the angle of the end effector may match the corresponding anglesof respective non-adjacent process modules (e.g. the non-adjacentprocess modules are separated by other process modules) into which theend effectors are extended. FIGS. 2G-2J illustrate the extension of thearms 155A, 155B having end effectors 155EA, 155EB with a predeterminedangle θ that is substantially the same as the angle θ′ betweenprocessing modules PM21-PM26 of processing tool 100′. FIG. 2Gillustrates both arms 155A, 155B being retracted. FIG. 2H illustratesboth arms 155A, 155B extended into processing modules PM26, PM25respectively. FIG. 2I illustrates arm 155B extended into processingmodule PM25 and arm 155A retracted. FIG. 2J illustrates arm 155Aextended into processing module PM26 and arm 155B retracted.

Drive section 150 may receive commands from, for example, controller 170and, in response, direct radial, circumferential, elevational, compound,and other motions of arms 155A, 155B. The arms 155A, 155B may be mountedonto drive section 150 in any suitable manner. Each of the arms 155A,155B may include an upper arm section 155UA, 155UB rotatably mounted tothe drive section at a shoulder joint axis SX, a forearm section 155FA,155FB rotatably mounted to the upper arm section 155UA, 155UB at anelbow axis EXA, EXB and an end effector 155EA, 155EB rotatably mountedto the forearm section 155FA, 155FB at a wrist axis WXA, WXB.

In an aspect of the disclosed embodiment, the transfer robot 130 may bemounted in central chamber 175 of atmospherically sealed section 110(See FIG. 1). Controller 170 may operate to cycle openings 180, 185 andcoordinate the operation of transfer robot 130 for transportingsubstrates among processing modules 125, load lock 135, and load lock140. It should be understood that while the transfer robots 120, 130 areillustrated and described as having a SCARA-type robot arm, the transferrobots may include any suitable arm configurations such as anarticulating arm robot, a frog leg type apparatus, or a bi-symmetrictransport apparatus.

Referring now to FIG. 3, an exemplary drive section 150 is shown inaccordance with an aspect of the disclosed embodiments. In one aspectthe drive may have a coaxial drive arrangement, while in other aspectsthe drive section may have any suitable drive arrangement. Suitableexamples of drive section arrangements are described in U.S. Pat. Nos.6,485,250, 5,720,590, 5,899,658 and 5,813,823 the disclosures of whichare incorporated by reference herein in their entirety. Other suitableexamples of drive system arrangements include those described in U.S.patent application Ser. No. 12/163,996 entitled “Robot Drive withMagnetic Spindle Bearings” and filed on Jun. 27, 2008, the disclosure ofwhich is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. In thisaspect, the drive section 150 includes a housing 310 for at leastpartially housing a quad-coaxial drive shaft assembly 300 having fourdrive shafts 301-304 and four motors 342, 344, 346, 348 (e.g. a 4-degreeof freedom motor). In other aspects of the embodiments the drive section150 may have any suitable number of drive shafts and motors, such as forexample, two or three coaxial motors or more than four coaxial motorsand associated drive shafts. The first motor 342 includes a stator 342Sand a rotor 342R connected to the outer shaft 304. The second motor 344includes a stator 344S and a rotor 344R connected to shaft 303. Thethird motor 346 includes a stator 346S and a rotor 346R connected toshaft 302. The fourth motor 348 includes a stator 348S and a rotor 348Rconnected to the fourth or inner shaft 301. The four stators 342S, 344S,346S, 348S are stationarily attached to the housing 310 at differentvertical heights or locations within the housing. Each stator 342S,344S, 346S, 348S generally comprises an electromagnetic coil. Each ofthe rotors 342R, 344R, 346R, 348R generally comprises permanent magnets,but may alternatively comprise a magnetic induction rotor that does nothave permanent magnets. Where the transfer robot 130 is used in a sealedenvironment, such as for non-limiting exemplary purposes only, a vacuumenvironment, sleeves 362 may be located between the rotors 342R, 344R,346R, 3418R and the stators 342S, 344S, 346S, 348S so that the coaxialdrive shaft assembly 300 is located in the sealed environment and thestators are located outside the sealed environment. It should berealized that the sleeves 362 need not be provided if the transfer robot130 is only intended for use in an atmospheric environment, such aswithin the atmospheric section 105 of the substrate processing apparatus100 (FIG. 1).

The fourth or inner shaft 301 extends from the bottom or fourth stator348S and includes the rotor 348R, which is substantially aligned withthe stator 348S. The shaft 302 extends from the third stator 346S andincludes rotor 346R, which is substantially aligned with the stator346S. The shaft 303 extends from the second stator 344S and includes therotor 344R, which is substantially aligned with the stator 344S. Theshaft 304 extends from the top or first stator 342S and includes rotor342R, which is substantially aligned with the stator 342S. Variousbearings 350-353 are provided about the shafts 301-304 and the housing310 to allow each shaft 301-304 to be independently rotatable relativeto each other and the housing 310. It is noted that each shaft may beprovided with a position sensor 371-374. The position sensors 371-374may be used to provide a signal to any suitable controller, such ascontroller 170, regarding the rotational position of a respective shaft301-304 relative to each other and/or relative to the housing 310. Thesensors 371-374 may be any suitable sensors, such as for non-limitingexemplary purposes, optical or induction sensors.

Referring also to FIGS. 2, 3A and 3B, as described above the transferrobot 130 includes two arms 155A, 155B. It is noted that the two (ormore) arms of the transfer robots described herein with respect to theaspects of the disclosed embodiment may allow for substantiallysimultaneous picking and placing of substrates (e.g. both arms areextended and retracted at substantially the same time for picking andplacing substrates) or for nearly simultaneous picking and placing ofsubstrates (e.g. a first arm picks or places a substrate andsubstantially immediately following the picking or placing by the firstarm the second arm picks or places a substrate). In one aspect of thedisclosed embodiment the upper arm 155UA of arm 155A is fixedly attachedto the outer shaft 304 such that the upper arm 155UA rotates with theshaft 304 on a center axis of rotation (e.g. shoulder axis SX). A pulley380 is fixedly attached to shaft 303. The upper arm 155UA includes apost 381 and a pulley 382 rotatably mounted to the post 381. The post381 is stationarily mounted to an inner surface of the upper arm 155UA.A first set of transmission members 390 extend between the pulley 380and pulley 382. It should be realized that any suitable type oftransmission members may be used to couple the pulleys 380, 382, such asfor example, belts, bands or chains. It should also be realized thatwhile two transmission members are shown coupling the pulleys 380, 382any suitable number of transmission members may be used to couple thepulleys 380, 382 (e.g. more or less than two). A shaft 382S is fixedlycoupled to the pulley 382 so that the shaft 382S rotates with the pulleyabout elbow axis EXA. The shaft 382S may be rotatably supported on thepost 381 in any suitable manner. The forearm 155FA is fixedly mounted tothe shaft 382S so that the forearm 155FA rotates with the shaft 382Sabout elbow axis EXA. The forearm 155FA includes a pulley 383 rotatablysupported on the top end of the post 381. The forearm 155FA alsoincludes a post 385 and a pulley 384 rotatably mounted to the post 385.A second set of transmission members 391 (substantially similar totransmission members 390) extends between and couples the pulleys 383,384. The end effector 155EA is fixedly mounted to the pulley 384 so thatthe pulley 384 and end effector 155EA rotate about wrist axis WXA. Asmay be realized the upper arm 155UA and forearm 155FA are independentlydriven (e.g. rotated) by a respective one of the shafts 304, 303 toallow independent rotation T1 and extension R1 of the arm 155A while therotation of the end effector 155EA is slaved so that while the arm isextended and retracted along R1 a longitudinal axis of the end effectorremains substantially aligned with the axis of extension and retractionR1. In other aspects of the embodiment the drive section 150 may includeadditional motors and drive shafts so that the end effector 155EA mayalso be independently rotated about the wrist axis WXA.

The upper arm 155UB of arm 155B is fixedly attached to the inner shaft301 such that the upper arm 155UB rotates with the shaft 301 on a centeraxis of rotation (e.g. shoulder axis SX). A pulley 386 is fixedlyattached to shaft 302. The upper arm 155UB includes a post 388 and apulley 387 rotatably mounted to the post 388. The post 388 isstationarily mounted to an inner surface of the upper arm 155UB. A firstset of transmission members 392 (substantially similar to transmissionmembers 390) extend between the pulley 386 and pulley 387. A shaft 387Sis fixedly coupled to the pulley 387 so that the shaft 387S rotates withthe pulley about elbow axis EXB. The shaft 387S may be rotatablysupported on the post 388 in any suitable manner. The forearm 155FB isfixedly mounted to the shaft 387S so that the forearm 155FB rotates withthe shaft 387S about elbow axis EXB. The forearm 155FB includes a pulley389 rotatably supported on the top end of the post 388. The forearm155FB also includes a post 398 and a pulley 399 rotatably mounted to thepost 398. A second set of transmission members 393 (substantiallysimilar to transmission members 390) extends between and couples thepulleys 389, 399. The end effector 155EB is fixedly mounted to thepulley 399 so that the pulley 399 and end effector 155EB rotate aboutwrist axis WXB. As may be realized the upper arm 155UB and forearm 155FBare independently driven (e.g. rotated) by a respective one of theshafts 302, 301 to allow independent rotation T2 and extension R2 of thearm 155B while the rotation of the end effector 155EB is slaved so thatwhile the arm is extended and retracted along R2 a longitudinal axis ofthe end effector remains substantially aligned with the axis ofextension and retraction R2. In alternate embodiments the drive section150 may include additional motors and drive shafts so that the endeffector 155EB may also be independently rotated about the wrist axisWXB.

In another aspect, referring to FIG. 12, the rotation of the endeffectors about a respective wrist axis WXA, WXB may be slaved to one ormore of a respective upper arm and forearm (e.g. not independentlydriven) during extension and retraction in any suitable manner such asthrough linkages 155LFA, 155LUA, 155LFB, 155LUB. For example, referringto arm 155A each of the end effector 155EA, forearm 155FA and upper arm155UA have an extension or coupling EEXT, FEXT, UEXT, respectively. Theextensions EEXT, FEXT, UEXT are configured to couple a respective one ofthe linkages 155LFA, 155LUA, 155LFB, 155LUB to a respective one of theend effector 155EA, the forearm 155FA and the upper arm 155UA. In thisaspect, a first end of linkage 155LUA is coupled to extension UEXT ofthe upper arm 155UA and a second end of linkage 155LUA is coupled to theextension FEXT of the forearm 155FA so that the linkage 155LUA issubstantially parallel to the upper arm 155UA during extension andretraction of the arm 155A. A first end of linkage 155LFA is coupled toextension FEXT of the forearm 155FA and a second end of linkage 155LFAis coupled to the extension EEXT of the end effector 155EA so that thelinkage 155LFA is substantially parallel to the forearm 155FA duringextension and retraction of the arm 155A. As may be realized as theupper arm 155UA and forearm 155FA are rotated for extension andretraction the linkages 155LUA, 155LFA maintain the end effector at apredetermined orientation (which in this aspect is along line 1200). Itis noted that arm 155B′ includes extensions or couplings EEXT, FEXT,UEXT and linkages 155LFB, 155LUB which are similar to extensions andlinkages for arm 155A′ such that the end effector 155EB is maintainedalong line 1201 during extension and retraction. It is noted that whilethe linkages 155LFA, 155LUA, 155LFB, 155LUB may be applied to any of therobot arm configurations described herein in accordance with aspects ofthe disclosed embodiment.

Referring again to FIGS. 1, 2, 3A and 3B, in this aspect the shafts382S, 387S are suitably sized so that the transport planes TP of the endeffectors 155EA, 155EB are coplanar. The coplanar transport planes ofthe end effectors 155EA, 155EB may allow transport of substrates to andfrom substrate holding stations, such as the process modules 125,loadlocks 135, 140 and cassettes 115 substantially without any Z orvertical travel of the arms 155A, 155B. Hence, substantiallysimultaneous transfers may be effected by the arms to more than onemodule or load lock at different locations and orientations around thetransport chamber. In alternate embodiments the drive section 150 mayinclude a Z travel motor to allow Z movement of the arms. As may berealized, Z motion may be built into the processing modules and/or loadslocks which the robot serves so that the substrates can be lifted off ofor placed on the end effectors (e.g. transferred to and from the endeffectors).

Referring also to FIGS. 3C-3H another drive system 1300 is shown inaccordance with an aspect of the disclosed embodiment. Here the drivesystem 1300 includes a coaxial spindle arrangement 1310 driven by anoffset motor arrangement 1301. As may be realized the motor arrangement1301 may be any suitable motor including physically separate motors foreach drive axis (e.g. the motors are vertically and/or horizontallyspaced apart from one another) or the motor may be substantially similarto the motor arrangement described above with respect to FIG. 3. In thisaspect, the motor arrangement 1301 may be located in an atmosphericregion of the processing apparatus 100 or motor housing 1300H while theportions of the drive shafts 1311-1314 that drive the robot arm sectionsare located in a sealed and/or controlled environment of the processingapparatus 100. Each motor in the motor arrangement may be coupled to arespective drive pulley DP1, DP2, DP3, DP4 in any suitable manner suchas through belts, cables, gears or any other suitable transmissionmember. As may be realized, the drive system 1300 may also include aZ-axis motor substantially similar to Z-axis motor 312 described abovewith respect to FIG. 3.

As can be best seen in FIGS. 3E-3H the coaxial spindle arrangement 1310includes four drive shafts 1311-1314. As may be realized, the drivesystem 1300 is not limited to four drive shafts (e.g. a four axis drive)and may have more or less than four drive shafts (along with thecorresponding drive motors). The outermost drive shaft 1311 is coupledto drive pulley DP1. Drive shaft 1312 is coupled to drive pulley DP2.Drive shaft 1313 is coupled to drive pulley DP3. The innermost driveshaft 1314 is coupled to drive pulley DP4. As may be realized, thecouplings between the drive shafts and their respective pulleys is suchthat when a pulley is driven the respective drive shaft is driven withthe pulley. Here the drive shafts 1311-1314 are supported radially andaxially by a nested bearing arrangement that includes bearings 1320-1323but may be supported in any other suitable manner. The outer race 1320Aof bearing 1320 is fixedly attached to, for example, a mounting flange1300X of the housing 1300H using any suitable fasteners such as bolts orscrews. The inner race 1320B of bearing 1320 may be fixed to pulley DP1and to drive shaft 1311 in any suitable manner such as with bolts orscrews. The outer race 1321A of bearing 1321 is also fixed to the innerrace 1320B of bearing 1320 such that the bearing 1321 is dependent fromthe inner race 1320B of bearing 1320. The inner race 1321B of bearing1321 may be fixed to pulley DP2 and drive shaft 1312. The outer race1322A of bearing 1322 is also fixed to the inner race 1321B of bearing1321 such that the bearing 1322 is dependent from the inner race 1321Bof bearing 1321. The inner race 1322B of bearing 1322 may be fixed topulley DP3 and drive shaft 1313. The outer race 1323A of bearing 1323may be fixed to an interior of drive shaft 1313 in any suitable manner,such as through a press/friction fit and/or a cap placed at a bottom ofthe drive shaft 1313. The inner race 1323B of bearing 1323 supports andis fixedly attached to drive shaft 1314 in any suitable manner. Theinner race 1323B of bearing 1323 is also fixed to drive pulley DP4(either directly or through shaft 1314) such the pulley is alsosupported by the inner race 1323B of bearing 1323.

As noted above, the motor housing 1300H of drive system 1300 may belocated in an atmospheric section of the processing tool 100 and theportions of the drive shafts 1311-1314 that drive the arm sections maybe located in a sealed and/or controlled atmosphere portion of theprocessing tool 100. Suitable seals, such as seals FS1-FS8 may bedisposed between the drive shafts 1311-1314 and between the drive shaft1311 and flange 1300X. While two seals are shown between each of thedrive shafts 1311-1314 and between the flange 1300X and drive shaft1311, it should be understood that more or less than two seals may bedisposed in these areas. The seals FS1-FS8 may be, for example,ferro-fluidic seals or any other suitable seal capable of sealing theatmosphere of the housing 1300H from the atmosphere of the process tool100. The seals FS1-FS8 may be held in place in any suitable manner, suchas through snap rings, clips or press/interference fits.

The drive shafts 1311-1314 of drive system 1300 may be coupled torespective arm sections in a manner substantially similar to thatdescribed above with respect to FIGS. 3 and 3A. For example, referringalso to FIG. 3A, the upper arm 155UA of arm 155A is fixedly attached tothe outer shaft 1311 such that the upper arm 155UA rotates with theshaft 1311 on a center axis of rotation (e.g. shoulder axis SX). Apulley 380 is fixedly attached to shaft 1312. The upper arm 155UAincludes a post 381 and a pulley 382 rotatably mounted to the post 381.The post 381 is stationarily mounted to an inner surface of the upperarm 155UA. A first set of transmission members 390 extend between thepulley 380 and pulley 382. It should be realized that any suitable typeof transmission members may be used to couple the pulleys 380, 382, suchas for example, belts, bands or chains. It should also be realized thatwhile two transmission members are shown coupling the pulleys 380, 382any suitable number of transmission members may be used to couple thepulleys 380, 382 (e.g. more or less than two). A shaft 382S is fixedlycoupled to the pulley 382 so that the shaft 382S rotates with the pulleyabout elbow axis EXA. The shaft 382S may be rotatably supported on thepost 381 in any suitable manner. The forearm 155FA is fixedly mounted tothe shaft 382S so that the forearm 155FA rotates with the shaft 382Sabout elbow axis EXA. The forearm 155FA includes a pulley 383 rotatablysupported on the top end of the post 381. The forearm 155FA alsoincludes a post 385 and a pulley 384 rotatably mounted to the post 385.A second set of transmission members 391 (substantially similar totransmission members 390) extends between and couples the pulleys 383,384. The end effector 155EA is fixedly mounted to the pulley 384 so thatthe pulley 384 and end effector 155EA rotate about wrist axis WXA. Asmay be realized the upper arm 155UA and forearm 155FA are independentlydriven (e.g. rotated) by a respective one of the shafts 1311, 1312 toallow independent rotation T1 and extension R1 of the arm 155A while therotation of the end effector 155EA is slaved so that while the arm isextended and retracted along R1 a longitudinal axis of the end effectorremains substantially aligned with the axis of extension and retractionR1. In alternate embodiments the drive section 150 may includeadditional motors and drive shafts so that the end effector 155EA mayalso be independently rotated about the wrist axis WXA.

The upper arm 155UB of arm 155B is fixedly attached to the inner shaft1314 such that the upper arm 155UB rotates with the shaft 1314 on acenter axis of rotation (e.g. shoulder axis SX). A pulley 386 is fixedlyattached to shaft 1313. The upper arm 155UB includes a post 388 and apulley 387 rotatably mounted to the post 388. The post 388 isstationarily mounted to an inner surface of the upper arm 155UB. A firstset of transmission members 392 (substantially similar to transmissionmembers 390) extend between the pulley 386 and pulley 387. A shaft 387Sis fixedly coupled to the pulley 387 so that the shaft 387S rotates withthe pulley about elbow axis EXB. The shaft 387S may be rotatablysupported on the post 388 in any suitable manner. The forearm 155FB isfixedly mounted to the shaft 387S so that the forearm 155FB rotates withthe shaft 387S about elbow axis EXB. The forearm 155FB includes a pulley389 rotatably supported on the top end of the post 388. The forearm155FB also includes a post 398 and a pulley 399 rotatably mounted to thepost 398. A second set of transmission members 393 (substantiallysimilar to transmission members 390) extends between and couples thepulleys 389, 399. The end effector 155EB is fixedly mounted to thepulley 399 so that the pulley 399 and end effector 155EB rotate aboutwrist axis WXB. As may be realized the upper arm 155UB and forearm 155FBare independently driven (e.g. rotated) by a respective one of theshafts 1313, 1314 to allow independent rotation T2 and extension R2 ofthe arm 155B while the rotation of the end effector 155EB is slaved sothat while the arm is extended and retracted along R2 a longitudinalaxis of the end effector remains substantially aligned with the axis ofextension and retraction R2. As may be realized the drive section 150may include additional motors and drive shafts so that the end effector155EB may also be independently rotated about the wrist axis WXB.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 4A-4H an operation arm 155A of the transferrobot 130 using, for example, a four axis drive will be described. Itshould be understood that the operation of arm 155B is substantiallysimilar to that described below with respect to arm 155A. In thisaspect, the transfer robot 130 is shown located within a transferchamber 400. FIG. 4H illustrates a side view of the transfer chamber400. It is noted that the transfer chamber includes sealable aperturesor ports 400P that may be sealed in any suitable manner such as withgate valves (not shown). The height H and width W of the ports 400P maybe minimized such that the end effector 155EA, 155EB with a substratethereon can pass through the port with minimal clearance. The transferchamber 400 may be substantially similar to central chamber 175described above. The transfer chamber includes openings or gate valves180 to which process modules 125 (PM1-PM4) are attached. As describedabove, the transfer planes TP (e.g. the end effectors as well as theforearms and wrists) (FIG. 3A) of the arms 155A, 155B are coplanar sothat the end effectors 155EA, 155EB of the arms 155A, 155B cannot accessthe same process module without rotation of both arms 155A, 155B of thetransfer robot about the shoulder axis SX. As may be realized, each ofthe arms 155A, 155B is capable of accessing all the process modules (andloadlocks—not shown) attached to the transfer chamber 400. For example,with suitable rotation of one or more arms each arm is capable ofaccessing adjacent process modules, alternately spaced process modulesand process modules located approximately 180 degrees apart.

As can be seen in FIG. 4 the arms 155A, 155B are arranged so that theend effectors 155EA, 155EB are aligned with adjacent process modulesPM1, PM2. To extend arm 155A so that end effector 155EA enters theprocess module PM2 the motor 342 rotates shaft 304 relative to shaft 303while shaft 303 is kept substantially stationary. However, shaft 303 maybe rotated slightly during extension and retraction to speed up thetransfer process with the start or finish of rotation of the entiremovable arm assembly 155A. With the shaft 303 (and pulley 380) keptstationary and the upper arm 155UA moved, the pulley 382 is rotated bytransmission members 390. This, in turn, rotates the forearm 155FA aboutaxis EXA. Because the pulley 383 is stationarily attached to post 381,and because the post 381 is stationarily attached to the forearm 155FA,the pulley 384 is rotated by the transmission members 391 relative tothe forearm 155FA. The pulleys 380, 382, 384 may be sized relative toeach other to allow end effector 155EA to be moved straight radially inand out along extension/retraction axis R1 as can be seen in FIG. 4A. Asmay be realized extension and retraction of arm 155B may occur in asubstantially similar manner where motor 348 rotates shaft 301 relativeto shaft 302.

Rotation of the arm 155A (T1 rotation) so that the arm is moved fromprocess module PM2 to process module PM3 occurs through operation ofboth motor 342 and 344 so that the shafts 304, 303 are rotated in thesame direction substantially simultaneously at substantially the samespeed as shown in FIG. 4B. Once the arm 155A is positioned so that endeffector 155EA is aligned with process module PM3 the arm may beextended and retracted in a manner substantially similar to thatdescribed above as shown in FIG. 4D. Likewise, to rotate the arm 155A(T1 rotation) so that the arm is moved from process module PM3 toprocess module PM4 both motor 342 and 344 are operated so that theshafts 304, 303 are rotated in the same direction substantiallysimultaneously at substantially the same speed as shown in FIG. 4E. Oncethe arm 155A is positioned so that end effector 155EA is aligned withprocess module PM4 the arm may be extended and retracted in a mannersubstantially similar to that described above as shown in FIG. 4G. Asmay be realized, the rotation of the arm 155A in, for example, aclockwise direction as shown in FIGS. 4A-4G is substantially limited toa point of rotation where the end effectors are substantially 180degrees apart due to, for example, the transfer planes TP, the forearms155FA, 155FB and the wrists being located in the same plane (e.g. theforearms are located in a common plane, the wrists are located in acommon plane, and the end effectors/substrates are located along commontransfer plane TP, see e.g. FIG. 3A). As such the transport paths R1, R2of the transport arms are angled relative to one another where the angleranges from adjacent substrate holding locations to substrate holdinglocations that are approximately 180 degrees apart.

As may be realized, where the end effectors 155EA, 155EB are disposed insubstantially the same transfer plane TP (FIG. 3A) in some circumstancesthe end effectors 155EA, 155EB may not be able to pass over one another(i.e. one arm blocks rotation of the other arm). As such, the thetamovement of the individual arms 155A, 155B is limited or partiallyindependent in which case the arms 155A, 155B have to be rotated as aunit (e.g. a long process move) about the shoulder axis SX to “unblock”stations that are to be accessed. In other aspects, the arms 155EA,155EB can move independently of each other for accessing stations thatare up to 180 degrees apart without one arm blocking the other arm'saccess to a station (e.g. load lock, process module, etc.). For example,referring to FIGS. 4I-4K and exemplary transfer chamber TC havingprocess modules PM and load lock modules LLM is shown. It should beunderstood that the transfer chamber may have any configuration with anysuitable number of process modules and load lock modules. As can be seenin FIGS. 4J-4L each arm 155A, 155B is able to move its respective endeffector 155EA, 155EB without interference from the other arm 155A, 155B(e.g. a short process move) to access stations up to approximately 180degrees apart. Any individual rotation of the arms 155A, 155B beyondapproximately 180 degrees would result in one arm 155A, 155B trying topass through the other arm 155A, 155B as shown in FIGS. 4L-4N, which isnot possible when the end effectors are disposed in the same plane TP.To access stations beyond 180 degrees both arms 155A, 155B have to berotated about the shoulder axes SX simultaneously and in the samedirection as a unit. The controller, such as controller 170 (FIG. 1) maybe configured to recognize, which stations can be accessed using shortprocess moves and which stations can be accessed using long processmoves. During operation of the robot, the controller 170 is configuredto “unblock” stations (e.g. by issuing appropriate commands to themotors drives for rotating the arms) that are to be accessed where suchaccess cannot be performed with a short access move. For example,referring to FIGS. 4I and 4L if end effector 155EA is to move fromprocess module PM1 to process module PM4 the controller 170 isconfigured to recognize that moving arm 155A independent of arm 155B toplace end effector 155EA at process module PM4 may result ininterference between the arms 155A, 155B. As such, if the arms willinterfere with each other, instead of moving the arms 155A independentlythe controller may move arms 155A, 155B as a unit in (e.g. move the armsat the same time in the same direction and at the same or at differentspeeds), for example, direction 450 as shown in FIG. 4O to unblockaccess to process module PM4 for allowing end effector 155EA to accessthe process module PM4.

Referring now to FIGS. 5A and 5B another transfer robot 530 is shown inaccordance with an aspect of the disclosed embodiment. The transferrobot 530 may be substantially similar to transfer robot 130 describedabove except where otherwise noted. In this aspect, the transfer robot530 includes a drive section 150 which may be substantially similar tothe drive sections described above with respect to FIGS. 3 and 3C-3H orany other suitable drive system. As may be realized, the drive section150 may include a Z axis drive 312 (FIG. 3). The Z axis drive 312 may beconnected to, for example, the housing 310 of the drive 150 in anysuitable manner. The Z axis drive 312 may be configured to drive thehousing 310, including any arms 555A, 555B connected thereto, in theZ-direction so that the end effectors 555EA, 555EB of each of the arms555A, 555B can be moved to different transfer planes.

In this aspect, the transfer robot 530 includes two transfer arms 555A,555B. The transfer arm 555A may be substantially similar to transfer arm155A described above such that like features have like reference numbers(e.g. upper arm 555UA, forearm 555FA and end effector 555EA). Thetransfer arm 555A may be connected to shafts 304, 303 of the drivesection (FIG. 3) in a manner substantially similar to that describedabove. The transfer arm 555B may also be substantially similar totransfer arm 155B described above such that like features have likereference numbers (e.g. upper arm 555UB, forearm 555FB and end effector555EB). The transfer arm 555B may be connected to shafts 302, 301 of thedrive section (FIG. 3) in a manner substantially similar to thatdescribed above. In this aspect, however, the shafts 582S, 587S (whichcorrespond to shafts 382S, 387S in FIG. 3) are sized so that the arm555B is able to rotate substantially 360 degrees infinitely anduninterrupted independent of the rotation of arm 355A and vice versa. Inaddition, the forearm 555FB of arm 555FB may be mounted to an undersideof the upper arm 555UB (whereas the forearm 155FB is mounted to an upperside of the upper arm 155UB in FIG. 2—e.g. vertically opposed forearms)so that the transfer plane TP2 of end effector 555EB is near, but notcoplanar, with the transfer plane TP1 of end effector 555EA tosubstantially minimize the amount of Z movement needed to transfersubstrates using the different arms 555A, 555B. This non-coplanararrangement allows for independent operation of each arm where theextension and retraction R1, R2 of the arms can be angled relative toone another as well as for the fast swap of substrate at a singlesubstrate holding location. It is noted that the spacing between thetransfer planes TP1, TP2 may be such that both end effectors 555EA,555EB can fit through a transfer port, such as 400P (FIG. 4H)substantially without or with minimal Z motion of the end effectors. Asmay be realized, where robot 530 is not capable of moving the arms 555A,555B along the Z axis the port may have a slightly larger height thanthe height H of the port 400P and/or Z movement may be built into theprocessing modules and/or loadlocks which the robot 530 serves.

Referring now to FIGS. 5C-5E another transfer robot 6000 is shown inaccordance with an aspect of the disclosed embodiment. The transferrobot 6000 may be substantially similar to transfer robot 130 describedabove except where otherwise noted. In this aspect, the transfer robot6000 includes a drive section 150 which may be substantially similar tothe drive sections described herein such as e.g. with respect to FIGS. 3and 3C-3H or any other suitable drive system. As may be realized, in oneaspect the drive section 150 may include a Z axis drive 312 (FIG. 3).The Z axis drive 312 may be connected to, for example, the housing 310of the drive 150 in any suitable manner. The Z axis drive 312 may beconfigured to drive the housing 310, including any arms 6055A, 6055Bconnected thereto, in the Z-direction so that the end effectors 6055EA,6055EB of each of the arms 6055A, 6055B can be moved to differenttransfer planes. In other aspects the drive may not include a Z-axisdrive.

In this aspect, the transfer robot 6000 includes two independentlymovable transfer arms 6055A, 6055B. The transfer arm 6055A may beconnected to shafts 304, 303 of the drive section (FIG. 3) in a mannersubstantially similar to that described above. The transfer arm 6055Bmay be connected to shafts 302, 301 of the drive section (FIG. 3) in amanner substantially similar to that described above. In this aspect,each arm 6055A, 6055B respectively includes an upper arm 6055UA, 6055UB,a forearm 6055FA, 6055FB and at least one end effector 6055EA, 6055EB.However, in this aspect, the arms 6055A, 6055B may be configured so thatthe end effectors 6055EA, 6055EB are disposed on a common plane, such astransfer plane TP while the forearms 6055FA, 6055FB are disposed indifferent planes to allow for increased arm rotation (e.g. when comparedto when the forearms and end effectors are located respective commonplanes) substantially without restricting arm extension. For exemplarypurposes only where the forearms are disposed in a common plane and theend effectors are disposed in a common plane, such as described withrespect to FIGS. 4 and 4A-4O above, one arm may rotate about 120 degreeswhile the other arm remains substantially stationary (or otherwisealigned with a substrate holding station for picking and placingsubstrates). In this aspect, also for exemplary purposes only, with theforearms disposed in different planes and the end effectors disposed ina common plane one arm may rotate about 180 degrees while the other armremains substantially stationary (or otherwise aligned with a substrateholding station for picking and placing substrates).

In a manner substantially similar to that described above with respectto FIGS. 5A and 5B the shafts 6082, 6087 (e.g. disposed at the elbows ofthe respective arms) are sized so that the forearm 6055FA of arm 6055Ais disposed in a different plane than the forearm 6055FB of arm 6055B.As may be realized, the end effector 6055EA of arm 6055A may be mountedto an underside of the forearm 6055FA so that both end effectors 6055EA,6055EB are disposed on the common transfer plane TP (e.g. the endeffectors are coplanar) to substantially minimize Z movement of therobot arms and/or eliminate Z movement (if the substrate holdingstations have Z movement capability) of the robot arms needed totransfer substrates using the different arms 6055A, 6055B. As can beseen best in FIG. 5E, the lengths of the upper arm and forearm 6055UA,6055UB of arm 6055A may be different than the lengths of the upper armand forearm of arm 6055B. For example, the lengths of the upper arm andforearm 6055UA, 6055FA may be longer than the lengths of upper arm andforearm 6055UB, 6055FB so that arm 6055B may rotate “through” arm 6055Aas will be described in greater detail below. As may be realized, theshafts 6087, 6082 may also be sized to allow for arm 6055B to rotatethrough arm 6055A (e.g. a stack height SH of the upper arm and forearm6055UB, 6055FB of arm 6055B is less than a distance DH between the upperarm 6055UA and end effector 6055EA of arm 6055A).

Referring also to FIGS. 5G and 5F, an operation of the transfer robot6000 will be described. In a manner similar to that described above, aminimum angle α between end effectors 6055EA, 6055EB may besubstantially the same as the angle θ′ between radially arranged processmodules, such as process modules PM4, PM3 of, e.g. FIG. 4A. Forexemplary purposes only, the angle α may be about 60 degrees but inother aspects the angle may be more or less than 60 degrees such as whenlarger or smaller substrates are processed. In this aspect, referring toFIG. 5F, the end effector 6055EA may be aligned with process module PM1for transferring a substrate WA to/from the process module PM1. Endeffector 6055EB may be aligned with load lock 140 for transferring asubstrate WB to/from the load lock 140. Here the load lock 140 andprocess module PM1 are radially disposed β degrees apart from eachother. The angle β may be any suitable angle and, for exemplary purposesonly, may be about 120 degrees. In other aspects the angle β may be moreor less than 120 degrees. In this example, the substrate WB is beingtransferred to load lock 140 while substrate WA is transferred toprocess module PM1. To make the transfer, both arms 6055A, 6055B arerotated in the direction of arrow 6099, as it is noted that the endeffectors 6055EA, 6055EB are disposed in the same plane and cannot passover one another. The arm 6055B may move through angle β to align theend effector 6055EB and substrate WB with process module PM1. The arm6055A may move through angle β′ (which in this example, for exemplarypurposes only, is about 240 degrees) so that the end effector 6055EA andsubstrate WA are aligned with load lock 140. It is noted that as the arm6055A rotates in the direction of arrow 6099 it passes arm 6055B suchthat the upper arm 6055UB and forearm 6055FB of arm 6055B pass between(or “through”) the upper arm 6055UA and forearm 6055FA (and end effector6055EA) of arm 6055A.

As may be realized, the theta movement of the individual arms 6055A,6055B may be limited or partially independent (e.g. because the endeffectors 6055EA, 6055EB are coplanar) in which case the arms 6055A,6055B have to be rotated as a unit (e.g. a long process move) about theshoulder axis SX to “unblock” stations that are to be accessed in amanner substantially similar to that described above, such as under thecontrol of controller 170.

As noted above, the arms, such as arms 155A, 155B (and arms 6055A,6055B) (having substantially coplanar end effectors) may be driven by athree axis drive system such that the theta movement of the upper arms155UA, 155UB of each arm are linked (e.g. the upper arms rotate so thata predetermined angle is maintained between the upper arms). Referringto FIG. 6, the three axis drive system 634 generally comprises a driveshaft assembly 641 and three motors 642, 644, 646. The drive shaftassembly 641 has three drive shafts 650A, 650B, 650C. As may be realizedthe drive system may not be limited to three motors and three driveshafts. The first motor 642 comprises a stator 648A and a rotor 660Aconnected to the middle shaft 650A. The second motor 644 comprises astator 648B and a rotor 660B connected to the outer shaft 650B. Thethird motor 646 comprises a stator 648C and rotor 660C connected to theinner shaft 650C. The three stators 648A, 648B, 648C are stationarilyattached to the tube or housing 652 at different vertical heights orlocations along the tube. For illustrative purposes only the firststator 648A is the middle stator, the second stator 648B is the topstator and the third stator 648C is the bottom stator. Each statorgenerally comprises an electromagnetic coil. The three shafts 650A,650B, and 650C are arranged as coaxial shafts. The three rotors 660A,660B, 660C are preferably comprised of permanent magnets, but mayalternatively comprise a magnetic induction rotor that does not havepermanent magnets. Sleeves 662 are preferably located between the rotor660 and the stators 648 to allow the robot to be useable in a vacuumenvironment with the drive shaft assembly 641 being located in a vacuumenvironment and the stators 648 being located outside of the vacuumenvironment. However, the sleeves 662 need not be provided if the robotis only intended for use in an atmospheric environment.

The third shaft 650C is the inner shaft and extends from the bottomstator 648C. The inner shaft has the third rotor 660C aligned with thebottom stator 648C. The middle shaft 650A extends upward from the middlestator 648A. The middle shaft has the first rotor 660A aligned with thefirst stator 648A. The outer shaft 650B extends upward from the topstator 648B. The outer shaft has the second rotor 660B aligned with theupper stator 648B. Various bearings are provided about the shafts650A-650C and the tube 652 to allow each shaft to be independentlyrotatable relative to each other and the tube 652. Each shaft 650A-650Cmay be provided with a position sensor 664. The position sensors 664 areused to signal the controller 170 (FIG. 1) of the rotational position ofthe shafts 650A-650C relative to each other and/or relative to the tube652. Any suitable sensor could be used, such as optical or induction.

Here the upper arm 155UA is coupled to the outer shaft 650B so that asthe outer shaft rotates the upper arm 155UA rotates with it. The upperarm 155UB is coupled to the inner shaft 350C so that as the inner shaftrotates the upper arm 155UB rotates with it. A pulley 670 having a firstor upper pulley section 370A, and a second or lower pulley section 670Bis coupled to the middle shaft 350A so that as the middle shaft rotatesthe pulley 670 (and the pulley sections 670A, 670B) rotate with it. Asmay be realized the pulley 670 may be one unitary piece or the twopulley sections 670A, 670B that are fixed to each other and the shaft650A in any suitable manner. The pulley section 670A is coupled topulley 387 of arm 155B through transmission 392 and pulley section 670Bis coupled to pulley 382 of arm 155A through transmission 390.

The three motors 642, 644, 646 are independently movable toindependently move the two arms 155A, 155B in extension and retraction.It is noted that the two arms 155A, 155B can be extended simultaneouslytogether, individually one at a time, or one arm can be extended whilethe other arm is retracted. The arms 155A, 155B can be moved to extendand retract the two end effectors 155EA, 155EB for picking up and forplacing substrates, and the drive 634 can rotate the entire movable armassembly (i.e. both arms 155A, 155B) as a unit about the shoulder axisSX to reorient the arms 155A, 155B relative to the processing modules,loadlocks and/or any other features of the processing tool in which thearms are located.

In order to extend and retract the arm 155A, the motor 644 is activatedto rotate the outer shaft 650B relative to the middle shaft 650A.Preferably, the middle shaft 650A is kept stationary while the arm 155Ais being extended and retracted. However, the pulley 670 may be movedslightly during extension or retraction to speed up the transfer processwith the start or finish of rotation of the entire movable arm assembly.With the pulley 670 kept substantially stationary and the upper arm155UA moved, the pulley 382 is rotated by the transmission members 390.This, in turn, rotates the forearm 155FA about the elbow axis EXA.Because the pulley 383 is stationarily attached to the post 381, andbecause the post is stationarily attached to the upper arm 155UA, thepulley 384 is rotated by the transmission members 391 relative to theforearm 155FA. It is noted that the pulley diameter ratio can be anysuitable ratio, such as those described above, so that the end effector(and substrate thereon) is moved straight radially in and out.

In order to extend and retract the arm 155B, the motor 646 is actuatedto rotate the inner shaft 650C relative to the middle shaft 650A.Preferably, the middle shaft 650A is kept stationary while the arm 155Bis being extended and retracted. However, the pulley 670 may be movedslightly during extension or retraction to speed up the transfer processwith the start or finish of rotation of the entire movable arm assembly.With the pulley 670 kept substantially stationary and the upper arm155UB moved, the pulley 387 is rotated by the transmission members 392.This, in turn, rotates the forearm 155FB about the elbow axis EXB.Because the pulley 389 is stationarily attached to the post 388, andbecause the post 388 is stationarily attached to the upper arm 155UB,the pulley 399 is rotated by the transmission members 393 relative tothe forearm 155FB. It is noted that the pulley diameter ratio can be anysuitable ratio, such as those described above, so that the end effector(and substrate thereon) is moved straight radially in and out.

The motor 642 is used in conjunction with the two other motors 644, 646in order to rotate the entire arm assembly about the shoulder axis SX.The motor 642 is rotated to rotate the middle shaft 650A and, thus,rotate the main pulley 670. The motors 644, 646 are moved in the samedirection and speed as the motor 642 to rotate the upper arms 155UA,155UB with the pulley 670. Thus, the transmission members 390, 392 donot rotate their respective pulleys 382, 387. Therefore, the forearms155FA, 155FB are not rotated relative to their respective upper arms155US, 155UB and the pulleys 384, 399 are not rotated to rotate the endeffectors 155EA, 155EB. As may be realized, the rotation of the arms155A, 155B about the shoulder axis SX is a coupled rotation (e.g. botharms rotate together as a unit while an angle between the upper arms155UA, 155UB is maintained) and the extension and retraction of the armscan be performed individually or simultaneously. As may also berealized, a Z axis drive 312 (substantially similar to that describedabove) can be connected to the drive system 634 to lift and lower thearms 155A, 155B along the Z axis.

As may be realized, the exemplary transfer robots 130, 530 describedherein allows for sequential processing of substrates where one or moreof the processing modules 125 performs a separate processing operationon the substrates. For example, referring to FIG. 4A, a substrate may beplaced in process module PM1 using one of the arms 155A, 155B. Afterprocessing is finished in process module PM1, arm 155A may remove thesubstrate from process module PM1 and place it in process module PM2.Substantially simultaneously with the transfer of the substrate fromprocess module PM1 to process module PM2, arm 155B may transfer anothersubstrate from load lock 135 to process module PM1. Such an arrangementmay provide for a substantially continuous flow of substrates from, forexample, load lock 135 through process modules PM1-PM4 to load lock 140.

FIG. 7 illustrates schematically an exemplary extension of an arm of thetransfer robot 130, 530 into a process module. It should be understoodthat the dimensions shown in FIG. 7 are merely exemplary approximationsand that the dimensions may be greater or smaller than those shown. Inalternate embodiments the arm may extend into the process module anysuitable horizontal distance and at any suitable vertical location.

FIGS. 8 and 10 are exemplary top schematic illustrations of a transferchamber, such as transfer chamber 400. FIGS. 9A and 9B are schematicside views of the transfer chamber 400 where the interior height of thetransfer chamber is increased when the transfer robot includes a Zdrive. It should be understood that the dimensions shown in FIGS. 8-10are merely exemplary approximations and that the dimensions may begreater or smaller than those shown. It should be understood that thetransfer chamber may have any suitable configuration.

Referring to FIG. 11, the robots described herein may be configured,along with the controller, for automatically centering substrates as thesubstrates are placed at a processing module or station. For example,one or more sensors 1002, 1003 may be placed, for example, adjacent aport providing access between a transfer chamber and the processingstation 1001. As the robot 1030 extends the end effector 1030E carryinga substrate through the port the sensors 1002, 1003 may detect one ormore of the leading and trailing edges of the substrate and transmitdetection signals corresponding to the detection of the one or moreleading and trailing edges of the substrate to the controller. Thecontroller 170 may use the detection signals in any suitable manner todetermine the position of the substrate relative to, for example, aposition of the end effector 1030E. The controller 170 may be configuredto apply an offset XO, YO in one or more of the X and Y directions forplacing the substrate at the processing station 1001 in a predeterminedposition. The offsets XO, YO may be calculated by the controllerdepending on thermal expansion of the processing components (e.g. thecomponents that interact directly or indirectly with the substrate) suchthat the offsets are steady state offsets that compensate for thethermal growth of the components. In an aspect of the disclosedembodiment, the access ports of more than one process module and/orloadlocks (see for example FIG. 1) may have a similar sensorarrangement. Robot 1030 may be similar to the previously describedrobots. As may be realized, the robot may effect substantiallysimultaneous multiple automatic substrate centering of substrates onboth robot end effectors.

Referring now to FIG. 13 a substrate processing apparatus 2000 is shown.The substrate processing apparatus 2000 may be substantially similar tothe substrate processing apparatus 100 in FIG. 1. For example, thesubstrate processing apparatus 2000 may generally have an atmosphericsection 2005, for example forming a mini-environment and an adjoiningatmospherically isolatable or sealed (e.g. sealed from an externalatmosphere) section (e.g. atmospherically sealed section) 2010, whichfor example may be equipped to function as a vacuum chamber. Inalternate embodiments, the atmospherically sealed section 110 may holdan inert gas (e.g. N₂) or any other isolated atmosphere. The atmosphericsection may include load ports 2015, robot 2020 and be coupled to theatmospherically sealed section 2010 through load locks 2035, 2040. Theatmospherically sealed section 2010 may be in the form of a cluster typetool having processing modules 2025 radially arranged around a centralchamber 2075 where each processing module is angled relative to eachother by angle θ. The central chamber 2075 may include a transferapparatus 2030 for transferring substrates between the load locks 2035,2040 and the processing modules 2025. In one aspect the transferapparatus may be substantially similar to that described in U.S. Pat.No. 6,450,755 issued on Sep. 17, 2002 the disclosure of which isincorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Referring also to FIG. 14, the transfer apparatus 2030 may include twoscara arms 2055A, 2055B substantially similar to arms 155A, 155Bdescribed above and a drive section. The drive section for transferapparatus 2030 may be a three axis coaxial drive system substantiallysimilar to the three axis drive system 634 described above with respectto FIG. 6. In another aspect the drive system of transfer apparatus 2030may be a three axis coaxial drive system substantially similar to thatdescribed above with respect to FIGS. 3C-3H (with for example, driveshaft 1314, or any one of the shafts 1311-1314, and the respectivepulley/motor components removed from the drive). A Z-axis drive may becoupled to the coaxial drive shaft arrangement for providing travelalong the Z-direction to raise and/or lower the arm assembly in a mannersubstantially similar to that described above.

Each arm includes an upper arm 2055UA, 2055UB, a forearm 2055FA, 2055FBmounted to the upper arm about an elbow axis EXA, EXB and at least oneend effector 2055EA, 2055EB mounted to the forearm 2055FA, 2055FB abouta wrist axis WXA, WXB. It is noted that in one aspect the end effectors2055EA, 2055EB may be located on the same transfer plane TP to reducethe amount of Z-motion of the arm assembly. In other aspects the endeffectors may be located on different transfer planes. In this aspect,the arms 2055A, 2055B are mounted to and supported by a base member 2050about a respective shoulder axis SX1, SX2. For example, arm 2055A ismounted to the base member 2050 about shoulder axis SX1 and arm 2055B ismounted to the base member about shoulder axis SX2. The base member 2050may have any suitable shape and/or configuration and it is noted thatthe triangular shape shown in the figures is merely exemplary in nature.The end effectors 2055EA, 2055EB of the arms 2055A, 2055B may bearranged so that the end effectors 2055EA, 2055EB are angled relative toeach other by angle θ so that the end effectors 2055EA, 2055EB arealigned with adjacent ones of the angled process modules 2025 in amanner substantially similar to that described above with respect toarms 155A, 155B.

The base member 2050 may be coupled to a first drive shaft D1 (e.g. theouter drive shaft) of the drive section about drive axis TX (e.g. theaxis of rotation of the coaxial drive shaft assembly) so that as thedrive shaft D1 rotates the base member 2050 rotates with it. As can beseen in FIG. 13 each of the shoulder axes SX1, SX2 may be locatedrelative to the drive axis TX so that the shoulder axes is positionedalong a line of extension and retraction 1501, 1502 of the respectiveend effector 2055EA, 2055EB. A first drive pulley DP1′ may be coupled toa third drive shaft D3 (e.g. the inner drive shaft) of the drive sectionso that as the drive shaft D3 rotates the pulley DP1′ rotates with it. Afirst shoulder pulley SP1 may be mounted on a shaft about axis SX1 wherethe first shoulder pulley SP1 is coupled to the first drive pulley DP1in any suitable manner, such as through belts, bands, gears, or anyother suitable transmission. The shoulder pulley SP1 may be coupled tothe arm 2055A in any suitable manner for causing the arm to extend andretract along path 1501. In this aspect, rotation of the forearm 2055FAand end effector 2055EA may be slaved to the rotation of the upper arm2055UA through any suitable transmission system 2070A in a known manner(e.g. such as with a 2:1:1:2 shoulder-elbow-end effector pulley ratio orany other suitable pulley ratio) so that the arm 2055A can be extendedand retracted using only one drive axis and wrist axis WXA and the endeffector 2055EA remain aligned with the path 1501 during extension andretraction (in a manner similar to that shown in FIGS. 15A and 15Bdescribed below with respect to arm 2055B). It should be realized thatin other aspects additional drive shafts/motors may be provided in thedrive section so that two or more of the upper arm, forearm and endeffector of arm 2055A may be individually driven.

A second drive pulley DP2′ may be coupled to a second drive shaft D2(e.g. the middle drive shaft) of the drive section so that as the driveshaft D2 rotates the drive pulley DP2′ rotates with it. A secondshoulder pulley SP2 may be mounted on a shaft about axis SX2 where thesecond shoulder pulley SP2 is coupled to the second drive pulley DP2 inany suitable manner, such as through belts, bands, gears, or any othersuitable transmission. The shoulder pulley SP2 may be coupled to the arm2055B in any suitable manner for causing the arm to extend and retractalong path 1502. In this aspect, rotation of the forearm 2055FB and endeffector 2055EB may be slaved to the rotation of the upper arm 2055UBthrough any suitable transmission system 2070B in a known manner (e.g.such as with a 2:1:1:2 shoulder-elbow-end effector pulley ratio or anyother suitable pulley ratio) so that the arm 2055B can be extended andretracted using only one drive axis while the wrist axis WXB and endeffector 2055EB remain longitudinally aligned with the path 1502 duringextension and retraction as shown in FIGS. 15A and 15B. It should berealized that in other aspects additional drive shafts/motors may beprovided in the drive section so that two or more of the upper arm,forearm and end effector of arm 2055B may be individually driven.

It is noted that the ratio between the first and second drive pulleysDP1′, DP2′ and the respective shoulder pulleys SP1, SP2 may be a 1:1ratio. However, in alternate embodiments any suitable ratio may be usedbetween the drive pulleys and the respective shoulder pulleys.

Referring to FIGS. 14A-14D, in another aspect of the disclosedembodiment, the transfer apparatus 2030 may be driven by a two-axiscoaxial drive system 2099 such that the extension and retraction of thearms 2055A, 2055B is coupled. It is noted that the two-axis drive systemmay be substantially similar to those described above with respect toFIGS. 3, 3C-3H and 6 but with only two drive shafts D1, D2 andcorresponding motors. For example, an exemplary two-axis drive system(substantially similar to the drive systems shown in FIGS. 3 and 6) isshown in FIG. 14C having first and second drive shafts D1, D2 driven byrespective motors 1403, 1404 where each of the motors includes a stator1403S, 1404S and rotor 1403R, 1404R. As another example, anotherexemplary two-axis drive system (substantially similar to the drivesystem shown in FIGS. 3C-3H) is shown in FIG. 14D having first andsecond drive shafts 1311 (D1), 1312 (D2) driven through pulleys DP1, DP2by respective motors (not shown). A first one of the drive shafts D1 maybe coupled to the base member 2050 in a manner substantially similar tothat described above. A second one of the drive shafts D2 may be coupledto the drive pulleys DP1, DP2 such that as the second drive shaft D2rotates the drive pulleys DP1, DP2 rotate with the drive shaft D2. Inthis aspect, one of the drive pulleys DP1, DP2 may be coupled to arespective shoulder pulley SP1, SP2 in any suitable manner so that thedrive pulley and shoulder pulley rotate in the same direction (e.g. bothclockwise or both counterclockwise). The other one of the drive pulleysDP1, DP2 may be coupled to a respective shoulder pulley SP1, SP2 so thatthe drive pulley and shoulder pulley rotate in opposite directions (e.g.one pulley rotates clockwise and the other pulley rotatescounterclockwise). In this aspect, the drive pulley DP2 and shoulderpulley SP2 are coupled to each other in any suitable manner, such asthrough belts, bands, gears or any other suitable transmission 2060, sothat the pulleys DP2, SP2 rotate in the same direction. The drive pulleyDP1 is coupled to the shoulder pulley SP1 in any suitable manner, suchas through belts, bands, gears or any other suitable transmission 2062,so that the pulleys DP1, SP1 rotate in opposite directions. Forexemplary purposes the pulleys DP1, SP1 are shown in FIG. 14B as beingcoupled by a “FIG. 8” belt/band arrangement so that as the shaft D2rotates the pulleys SP1, SP2 are rotated in opposite directions. As maybe realized, with this two-axis drive arrangement and correspondingtransmissions between the driven pulleys DP1, DP2 and the respectiveshoulder pulleys SP1, SP2 the arms 2055A, 2055B may be extendedsubstantially simultaneously (e.g. both arms extend into and areretracted from substrate holding locations substantially simultaneously,such as with the “FIG. 8” belt/band arrangement or any other suitablereverse rotation drive configuration) or one arm 2055A, 2055B may beextended while the other arm 2055A, 2055B is retracted. In otheraspects, the coupling between the drive shaft D2 and the shoulderpulleys SP1, SP2 may be a lost motion coupling substantially similar tothose described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/117,415 entitled“Substrate Transport Apparatus with Multiple Movable Arms Utilizing aMechanical Switch Mechanism” and filed on May 8, 2008 and U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/697,390 entitled “Substrate Transport Apparatuswith Multiple Independently Movable Articulated Arms” and filed on Apr.6, 2007 the disclosure of which are incorporated by reference herein intheir entireties.

In another aspect of the disclosed embodiment, the base member 2050′,substantially similar to base member 2050 described above with respectto FIGS. 13-14A, may be adjustable so that the end effectors 2055EA,2055EB and the respective arms 2055A, 2055B can be adjustably rotatedrelative to the drive axis TX to align the end effectors 2055EA, 2055EBwith an angle θ of the substrate holding locations (such as the processmodules 2025 and load locks 2035, 2040). For example, referring to FIG.16A the base member 2050′ has two generally opposing base sections 1672,1678 configured to support a respective one of the arms 2055A, 2055B.The sections 1672, 1678 are joined to each other, in this embodiment ata drive axis joint 1635 of the base member 2050′. The sections 1672,1678 are capable of being locked to each other, allowing the base member2050′ to be rotated as a unit about drive axis TX. The generallyopposing base sections 1672, 1678 may otherwise be unlocked in order toreposition the generally opposing base sections 1672, 1678 relative toeach other for adjusting the angle α between the base sections 1672,1678. Adjusting the angle α may adjust an angle of extension/retractionbetween the arms for aligning the angle of extension and retraction ofeach arm with a transport path into adjacent processing modules. Inother aspects each arm may be individually rotatable about a respectiveshoulder axis where changing the angle α increases the distance betweenthe arms. In still other aspects of the disclose embodiment, the basemember 2050′ may comprise any desired number of sections, or may be onepiece with a lockable flexible joint to allow adjustable positioning ofdifferent parts of the section relative to each other. It is noted thatthe base sections 1672, 1678 may be releasably coupled to each other atthe drive axis TX to form a substantially rigid link where the first andsecond arm sections are incapable of movement relative to one anotherduring substrate transport. Base member section 1672 generally has ahollow frame or casing capable of housing any suitable transmissionconnecting the arm 2055A to the corresponding drive shaft of the drivesection (see e.g. FIGS. 14 and 14A described above). In other aspectsthe base member section 1672 may be configured to house a motor fordriving the arm 2055A. Base member section 1678 also generally has ahollow frame or casing capable of housing any suitable transmissionconnecting the arm 2055B to the corresponding drive shaft of the drivesection (see e.g. FIGS. 14 and 14A described above). In other aspectsthe base member section 1678 may be configured to house a motor fordriving the arm 2055B.

As seen in FIGS. 16A and 16B, in this embodiment the opposing sections1672, 1678 are configured so that the arm mounting surfaces MS1, MS2 aredisposed on a common plane to allow the arms 2055A, 2055B to besubstantially the same (but mirror images of each other) and the endeffectors to have substantially the same transfer plane TP (see FIGS. 14and 14A). In other aspects, arm mounting surfaces MS1, MS2 may have anydesired configuration relative to each other and the end effectors mayhave different transfer planes. The mounting or coupling section 1672Sof base member 2050′ may be formed by the frame 1673 of the base membersection 1672. In one aspect the frame 1673 extends around the co-axialshaft assembly of the drive section 1699 (which may be substantiallysimilar to those described above with respect to FIGS. 14-14D) to form aseating surface 1673S for the opposing arm section 1678. The surface1673S, which in this aspect is generally in the same plane as the uppersurface of the base member section 1672, has locating features for bothvertical and horizontal positioning of the base member section 1678 ontobase member section 1672. The opposing base member section 1678 has aframe 1610 that has a mating section 1610S which is generallyconformally configured, with respect to mounting section 1672S so thatmating section 1610S may be mounted on the mounting section 1672S. Thelocating features are fastener holes 1681A formed in seating surface1673S. Similarly, the seating surface of the mating section 1610S of theopposing base member section 1678 also has fastener holes 1681B. As willbe described below, the fastener holes 1681A, 1681B formed in therespective seating surfaces are distributed and spaced to providedesired indexing positions for indexing the arm section 1672, 1678relative to each other. Fasteners 1681F, such as cap screws, bolts,locating pins, or any combination thereof may be inserted through holes1681B of the base member section 1678, into matching holes 1681A of theother base member section 1672 thereby locking the two base membersections 1672, 1678 of the base member 2050′ to each other. Thefasteners are sufficient for torque transfer during movement and hencethe base member section 1678 (which as noted before is not directlymounted to the outer shaft (e.g. D1, 1311) of the rotational drive suchas those described with respect to FIGS. 14-14D (or any of the otherdrives described herein) rotates in unison with opposing base membersection 1672 when base member section 1672 is rotated by the outer shaftD1 about common axis of rotation TX at the drive axis joint 1635 of thebase member 2050′. In other aspects of the disclosed embodiment, anyother suitable enablement features, such as splines, keys/keyways, maybe used for locating and torque transfer between the opposing basemember sections.

The locating holes 1681A, 1681B are circumferentially equallydistributed on the respective frame 1673, 1610 of the base membersection 1672, 1678. Any desired number of holes may be used to providethe desired incremental adjustment spacing between the base membersection 1672, 1678 will be described below. The number of locating holesin the mounting sections 1673S, 1610S of the base member sections may bedifferent, as one section 1673S, 1610S may include only the minimumnumber of holes for mechanical loads, while the mating section wouldhave additional holes for desired positional adjustment or indexing. Forexample, if four fasteners 1681F are used for mechanical attachment,then one mounting section 1673S, 1610S may have four mounting holes1681A, 1681B and the other mounting section may have eight or ten or anydesired number of holes to accommodate adjustment between the basemember sections. The mating surfaces 1673S, 1610S may include additionalengagement features, such as interlocking or interdigitated lips oredges (not shown) that stably hold the base member sections togetherwhen the locking fasteners 1681F are removed. Accordingly, the basemember sections 1672, 1678 may remain self supporting when the fasteners1681F are removed to effect positional adjustment as will be describedbelow. The engagement features may be provided with suitable slidingsurfaces (not shown) to allow sliding motion between base membersections when being positionally adjusted without generating particulatematter at the sliding surfaces. In one aspect, the mounting sections1673S, 1610S of the base member sections are shown as being disposed atthe drive axis joint 1635 of the base member 2050′. In other aspects ofthe disclosed embodiment, the adjustable connection between the basemember sections may be located at any other position along base member2050′.

In other aspects of the disclosed embodiments the angle α between thebase member sections 1672, 1678 can be dynamically adjusted. Forexample, referring to FIG. 16C the drive 1699′ may have three driveshafts D1-D3 where the outer drive shaft is coupled to base membersection 1672 so that as the outer drive shaft rotates the base membersection 1672 rotates with it. Inner drive shaft D3 is coupled to basemember section 1678 so that as the inner drive shaft D3 rotates the basemember section 1678 rotates with it. The middle drive shaft D2 may becoupled to the pulleys SP1, SP2 for extending and retracting the arms2055A, 2055B in the manner described above. A controller (not shown) maybe connected to the drive 1699′ for dynamically adjusting the angle αbetween the base member sections 1672, 1678. For example, to adjust theangle α between the base member sections 1672, 1678 the drive shafts D1and D3 may be rotated relative to each other by any desired amount sothat the angle α is dynamically adjusted to any desired angle. It isnoted that the drive shafts D1 and D3 may be rotated in unison (e.g. inthe same direction at the same rotational speed) so that the base member2050′ can be rotated as a unit without changing the angle α between thebase member sections 1672, 1678.

The base member 2050, 2050′ may also allow for the independentZ-movement of just one of the arms 2055A, 2055B. Referring now to FIG.16D the base member 2050″ is shown having base member sections 1672,1678′. The base member section 1678′ is substantially the same as basemember section 1678 described above, but in this aspect of the disclosedembodiment the base member section 1678′ includes a first portion 1678Aand a second portion 1678B. The first portion 1678A may be adjustablyconnected to the base member section 1672 in a manner substantiallysimilar to that described above to allow for indexing of the base membersections relative to each other. The second portion 1678B may be movablycoupled to the first portion 1678A in any suitable manner to allow thesecond portion 1678B to move relative to the first portion 1678A alongthe Z-axis in the direction of arrow 1666 as will be described below. Inthis aspect of the disclosed embodiments, the drive section 1699 mayinclude any suitable primary lift or Z-axis drive 1687 that isconfigured to lift the base member 2050″ (and the arms 2055A, 2055B) asa unit in the direction or arrow 1666. However, in some instances it maybe desired, where e.g. both arms are extended for transferringsubstrates, to adjust a final drop off location of one of the substratessuch that one arm is moved along the Z-axis while keeping the other armstationary in Z. In this instance the base member section 1672 and arm2055A may be positioned along the Z-axis with the primary Z-drive andthe base member section 1678 and the arm 2055B may be further positionedalong the Z-axis with any suitable secondary Z-drive 1686 of the drivesection 1699. It should be understood that while base member section1678′ is shown as being adjustable along the Z-axis with the secondaryZ-drive 1686, in other aspects of the disclosed embodiment the otherbase member section 1672 or both base member sections 1672, 1678′ may beconfigured to be independently moved along the Z-axis in the mannerdescribed herein with respect to base member section 1678′.

Referring to FIG. 16E in another aspect of the disclosed embodiment thebase member sections may be configured such that one of the base membersection 1672′ is supported directly by the drive section and the otherone of the base member sections 1678″ is supported by a lift link 1615that is suitable adjustably supported by and extends out of the basemember section 1672′. As may be realized the base member section 1672′may have an aperture 1615A through which the lift link extends that issuitable shaped to allow indexing of the base member links 1672′, 1678″relative to each other as well as independent Z-motion of the basemember link 1678″. In one aspect the lift link 1615 may be configured toprovide support and guide the movement of the base member section 1678″.In other aspects any suitable guide bearings (described below) may beprovided for guiding movement of the base member section 1678″ andmaintaining an attitude of an end effector of the respective arm fortransferring substrates.

Referring now to FIG. 16F the lift linkage for allowing the independentvertical movement of one of the base member sections (and the respectivearm) will be described. It is noted that while the operation andconfiguration of the linkage will be described with respect to FIG. 16Dthe operation and configuration of the linkage may be substantially thesame for the configuration shown in FIG. 16E. In one aspect thesecondary Z-drive 1686 may be pivotally mounted within the drive section1699 or within the base member section 1672 in any suitable manner. Apivot link 1669 may be pivotally mounted within the base member portion1678A about pivot point 1669P1. A first end 1669E1 of the pivot link1669 is connected to the secondary Z-drive 1686 in any suitable manner,such as through e.g. a connecting member 1686M such that as thesecondary Z-drive 1686 is actuated the pivot link is caused to pivotabout point 1669P1. A second end 1669E2 of the pivot link 1669 may bemovably coupled to the base member portion 1678B in any suitable mannersuch that the rotational movement of the second end 1669E2 about pivotpoint 1669P1 is converted into a linear motion of the base memberportion 1678B along the Z-axis. The second base member portion 1678B maybe movably coupled to and supported by the first base member portion1678A at least in part by, for example, a linear bearing arrangement LBthat is configured to guide the movement of the second base memberportion 1678B along the Z-axis. It is noted that where the rotationaldrive for the arm 2055B is located in the drive 1699 the pulley SP2 thatdrives the arm 2055B may be movably coupled to the arm drive shaft SDsuch that as the second base member portion 1678B moves along the Z-axisthe pulley SP2 is allowed to slide longitudinally along the shaft SDwhile remaining rotationally coupled to the shaft SD. It should beunderstood that the pulley arrangement for driving the arm 2055B mayhave any suitable configuration that allows for the movement of thesecond base member portion 1678B along the Z-axis. A bellows BL may belocated between base member portions 1678A, 1678B and configured toenclose one or more of the pivot link 1669 and linear bearing LB.

Referring to FIG. 16G, in another aspect of the disclosed embodiment,single axis drive motors may be placed at each joint of the base member.For example, a single drive motor DM1 may be located at the drive joint1635 for rotating the base member about axis TX as a unit. As may berealized where the base member portions are dynamically adjustablerelative to each other a dual axis drive may be located at the joint1635 for individually rotating base member sections 1672, 1678″ relativeto each other in a manner substantially similar to that described above.Another single axis drive motor DM2 may be located within base membersection 1678″ about axis SX2 for driving shaft SD for causing arm 2055Bto extend and retract. Yet another single axis drive motor (not shown)may be located within base member section 1672 about axis SX1 foreffecting the extension and retraction of the arm 2055A. It should beunderstood that the single axis drives DM1, DM2 may be substantiallysimilar to the drives described above with respect to FIGS. 3, 3E-3H, 6,14C and 14D but for the inclusion of only a single drive motor. Itshould also be understood that any suitable encoders ENC may be used fordetermining a position of the arms and the various portions of the basemember. Further, while the single axis drives located at each of thejoints of the base section are described with respect to FIG. 16G itshould be understood that the single axis drive configuration may beused with any aspect of the disclosed embodiments.

FIGS. 17A-17C illustrate a portion of a robot where each of the arms1750, 1751 is driven by a remotely located motor or by a single axismotor located at the shoulder of the arm. Examples of the remotelylocated motors and the motors located at the joints of the robot aredescribed above. In this aspect of the disclosed embodiment each armincludes an upper arm UA, a forearm FA connected to a respective upperarm UA, and an end effector (not shown) connected to a respectiveforearm FA. The upper arm UA is coupled to a shoulder drive shaft SD forrotating the upper arm UA about a respective shoulder axis of rotationSX1, SX2. The arms 1750, 1751 in this aspect of the disclosed embodimentare driven in extension and retraction by a single axis drive 1760 in amanner substantially similar to that described above. The shoulderpulley 1770 of the arms 1750, 1751 is grounded to, for example, the basemember 2050 so that the pulley is not routed through the center of theshoulder joint. As each upper arm UA rotates about a respective axisSX1, SX2 the shoulder pulley 1770 does not rotate causing the arm toextend and retract in a slaved manner in conjunction with the rotationof the upper arm. Here the shoulder pulley 1770 includes an extension1770E that extends out of the housing/frame UAF of the respective upperarm UA through an aperture 1775. The extension 1770E may be fixed to thebase member 2050 in any suitable manner such as through any suitablefasteners, clips, etc. It is noted that the aperture 1775 in thehousing/frame UAF of the upper arm UA is suitably sized and shaped toallow rotation of the upper arm UA for extending and retracting the armwhile the extension 1770E remains fixed to and stationary with respectto the base member 2050. It is noted that while the fixed shoulderpulley 1770 is described with respect to base member 2050 it should beunderstood that the fixed shoulder pulley arrangement of FIGS. 17A-17Ccan be applied to the adjustable arm sections of FIGS. 16A-16G or anyother suitable aspects of the disclosed embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 18 the base member/robot arm configuration of FIGS.13-17C may be mounted to a linkage arm 1810. For example, the processingtool 1800 shown in FIG. 18 (which may be substantially similar to tool100, 2000 described above) may include an atmospherically sealed section2010 and an atmospheric section 2005. The atmospheric section mayinclude load ports 2015, robot 2020 and be coupled to theatmospherically sealed section 2010 through load locks 2035, 2040. Theatmospherically sealed section 2010 may be in the form of a cluster typetool having processing modules 2025 arranged around a central chamber2075. The central chamber 2075 may include a transfer apparatus 1801 fortransferring substrates between the load locks 2035, 2040 and theprocessing modules 2025. The transfer apparatus 1801 includes thelinkage arm 1810 which is mounted to a drive section 1801D at a linkageaxis of rotation LX, a base member 1850 mounted to the linkage arm 1810about a base member axis of rotation TX and arms 1860, 1861 mounted tothe base member 1850 about respective shoulder axes SX1, SX2. It isnoted that the base member 1850 may be substantially similar to basemember 2050 or 2050′ described above. The transfer apparatus 1801 mayinclude a drive module 1801D substantially similar to those describedabove disposed at the link axis of rotation LX for rotationally drivingat least the linkage arm 1810. In one aspect the drive module 1801D mayinclude a coaxial shaft arrangement where one shaft drives rotation ofthe linkage arm 1810, one shaft drives rotation of the base member 1850and one or more shafts drives rotation of upper arms UA of the arms1860, 1861. Each drive shaft in the coaxial shaft arrangement may becoupled to a respective one of the linkage arm 1810, base member 1850and upper arms UA in any suitable manner. For example, linkage arm 1810may be directly driven by its respective drive shaft while the basemember 1850 and upper arms UA are coupled to their respective driveshafts through suitable transmissions in manners substantially similarto those described above. In another aspect a single axis drive motormay be placed at each of the axis of rotation LX, TX, SX1, SX2 forrotationally driving a respective portion of the transfer apparatus 1801in a manner substantially similar to that described above. Here rotationof the linkage arm 1810 about the axes LX allows the base member 1850 tobe positioned as needed to align with the facet angles of the centralchamber 2075. As may be realized the angle α between the shoulder axesSX1, SX2 may be dynamically adjustable, as described above, so that theend effectors of the arms 1860, 1861 can be aligned with the processmodule 2025 of load locks 2035, 2040 into which the end effector isextended into. In other aspects, additional motors may be provided toindividually drive each arm link (e.g. the upper arm, forearm and endeffector are individually rotatable) for accessing the process modules2025 and load locks 2035, 2040.

Referring to FIGS. 19A-19C in another aspect of the disclosed embodimenta dual arm transport apparatus 1900 is configured with dual SCARA arms1901, 1902 and a drive system 1910. The drive system 1910 includes atandem motor arrangement include two side by side motors 1920, 1930. Themotors 1920, 1930 are coaxial shaft motors (e.g. the drive shafts arecoaxial) that are mounted to a common lift frame 1940. In one aspect themotors 1920, 1930 may be substantially similar to the drive systemsdescribed above. In another aspect the motors 1920, 1930 may be harmonicdrive motors. A Z-drive 1940D is connected to the lift frame 1940 formoving the motors 1920, 1930 and the robot arms 1901, 1902 along theZ-axis in the direction of arrow 1999. A coaxial shaft/pulleyarrangement may be configured to support the arm assemblies in a mannersubstantially similar to that described above with respect to FIGS.3C-3H. For example, a hollow outer shaft 1920D1 of motor 1920 may bedirectly connected to and support the upper arm 1902UA of arm 1902. Aninner shaft 192D2 passes through the hollow outer shaft 1902D1 forcoupling to pulley 1902P1 of arm 1902. Suitable bearings may be attachedto the outer shaft 1920D1 and be configured to support the inner shaft1902D2 and pulley 1901P2. Pulley 1901P2 is coupled to pulley 1901P3 ofarm 1901 and may have a hollow center or aperture through which theouter shaft 1920D1 passes. Suitable bearings may be attached to pulley1901P2 and be configured to support outer 1901P1 which is coupleddirectly to the upper arm 1901UA of arm 1901. The pulley 1901P1 may alsohave a hollow center or aperture through which the pulley 1901P2 passesfor connection to the pulley 1901P3. The pulley 1901P2 may be coupled toan outer shaft 1930D1 of motor 1930 through any suitable transmission1960, such as belts, bands, gears, etc. The pulley 1901P1 may be coupledto an inner shaft 1930D2 of the motor 1930 through any suitabletransmission 1961, such as belts, bands, gears, etc. It is noted thatthe inner and outer shafts 1903D1, 1903D2 of the motor 1930 may havesuitable pulleys mounted thereto for interfacing with respectivetransmissions 1960, 1961 and providing any suitable drive ratio betweenthe drive shaft 1930D1, 1930D2 rotation and the pulley 1901P1, 1901P2rotation.

As can be seen in FIG. 19A the arms 1901, 1902 both rotate about thecommon axis RX. The arms 1901, 1902 may be configured such that one ofthe arms 1902 has arm links 1902UA, 1902FA that are shorter in lengththan arm links 1901UA, 1901FA of the other arm 1901 so that arm 1902 isallowed to rotate within the elbow swing radius of arm 1901. This allowsarm 1902 to rotate about axis RX indefinitely, while in a retractedconfiguration, regardless of the position of the arm 1901.

Arm 1901 includes upper arm 1901UA, forearm 1901FA rotatably coupled tothe upper arm 1901UA by an offset joint 1901J, and at least one endeffector 1901EE1, 1901EE2. As described above, the upper arm is drivendirectly by pulley 1901P1. The forearm 1901FA is driven by pulley1901P3. Pulley 1901P3 is coupled through any suitable transmission 1963to pulley 1901P4 which in turn is rotatably coupled to forearm 1901FA.The at least one end effector 1901EE1, 1901EE2 may be slaved such thatas the arm 1901 extends and retracts the at least one end effector1901EE1, 1901EE2 remains aligned with an axis of extension/retraction1998. In this aspect the arm 1901 includes two opposing end effectors1901EE1, 1901EE2 that are each configured to hold a substrate S. In oneaspect where the end effector is slaved the arm 1901 may be configuredto extend on either side of the shoulder joint 1901SJ to allow each endeffector 1901EE1, 1901EE2 to transfer substrates to/from substrateholding locations. In other aspects, one or more additional drive axesmay be added to motor 1930 along with a suitable transmission(s) forconnecting the drive axes to the end effectors so that one or more ofthe end effectors can be rotated independent of the rotation of theupper arm 1901UA and forearm 1901FA. In other aspects the arm 1901 mayinclude any suitable number of end effectors.

Arm 1902 includes upper arm 1902UA, forearm 1902FA rotatably coupled tothe upper arm 1902UA, and end effector 1902EE. As described above, theupper arm is driven directly by drive shaft 1920D1. The forearm 1902FAis driven by drive shaft 1920D2 which is coupled to pulley 1902P1.Pulley 1902P1 may be connected to pulley 1902P2, which is rotatablycoupled to the forearm 1902FA through any suitable transmission 1962. Inone aspect, the end effector 1902EE may be slaved such that as the arm1902 extends and retracts the end effector 1902EE remains aligned withan axis of extension/retraction 1998. It is noted that while only oneaxis of extension and retraction 1998 is shown in the figures it shouldbe understood that each individually rotatable arm 1901, 1902 may haveits own axis of extension and retraction. In other aspects, the arm 1902may have more than one end effector where the multiple end effectors canbe slaved or independently driven. It is noted that where the multipleend effectors are individually driven one or more additional drive axesmay be added to motor 1920 along with a suitable transmission(s) forconnecting the drive axes to multiple end effectors of arm 1902 so thatone or more of the end effectors can be rotated independent of therotation of the upper arm 1902UA and forearm 1902FA. It is noted thatwhile end effectors 1901EE1, 1901EE2, 1902EE are shown as singlesubstrate end effectors in other aspects the end effectors may beconfigured to hold more than one substrate either side by side or oneabove the other (see FIGS. 2P, 2Q).

The offset joint 1901J, upper arm 1901UA and forearm 1901FA of arm 1901may form a containment zone 1990 for the arm 1902. For example, theoffset joint 1901J may be of sufficient length or height such that theupper arm 1902UA, forearm 1902FA and end effector 1902EE of arm 1902 fitbetween upper arm 1901UA and forearm 1901FA of arm 1901. The arm lengthfrom joint center to joint center or the distance L1 between the commonaxis of rotation RX and the shoulder axis SAX1 of arm 1901 may also begreater than arm length from joint center to joint center or thedistance L2 between the common axes of rotation RX and the shoulder axisSAX 2 of arm 1902 so that the arm 1902 is free to rotate indefinitely(at least with the arm 1902 in a retracted configuration) within thecontainment zone 1999 without interference from the arm 1901.

It is noted that the length of the end effectors 1901EE, 1902EE1,1902EE2 can be any suitable length to allow both arms 1901, 1902 toreach each of the process modules, load locks or other substrate holdingstations which the robot 1900 serves. For example, the length L3 ofeffector 1902EE may be greater than the length L4 of the end effectors1901EE1, 1901EE2 of arm 1901 to compensate for the shorter length upperarm 1902UA and forearm 1902FA. In other aspects the end effector lengthsL3, L4 may be substantially equal where the center of rotation RX of thearms 1901, 1902 is located sufficiently close to the substrate holdingstations such that the longer arm 1901 only partially extends totransfer substrates to/from the holding stations. It is noted that whenextended into the substrate holding station the angle β between the armlinks 1901FA, 1901UA of arm 1901 may be less than the angle μ betweenarm links 1902FA, 1902UA of arm 1902 (see FIG. 19B) as, for example, aresult of the difference in link length and or the length of the endeffectors.

A controller 1911 may be connected to the transport apparatus 1900. Thecontroller may be substantially similar to controller 170 describedabove. The controller 1911 may be configured to operate the transportapparatus such that when one arm 1901, 1902 is transferring a substrateto a substrate holding station the other arm is independently rotatedand aligned (without extending the arm) with the same or a differentsubstrate holding station to anticipate or prepare for the nextsubstrate transfer. For example, referring to FIG. 1, if the transferapparatus 1900 (transfer robot 130 in FIG. 1) is to transfer a substrateto process module PM6 and then pick a substrate from load lock 140 afirst one of the arms 1901, 1902 may extend into process module PM6 fortransferring the substrate while a second one of the arms 1901, 1902 isindependently rotated so that the end effector is aligned with the loadlock module 140 to allow for a substantially immediate extension of thesecond arm 1901, 1902 into load lock 140 once the first arm retractsfrom process module PM6.

In one aspect a substrate processing apparatus includes a frame, a firstSCARA arm connected to the frame, the first SCARA arm includes an endeffector and is configured to extend and retract along a first radialaxis, a second SCARA arm connected to the frame, the second SCARA armincludes an end effector and is configured to extend and retract along asecond radial axis, the first and second SCARA arms having a commonshoulder axis of rotation, and a drive section coupled to the first andsecond arms, the drive section being configured to independently extendeach of the first and second SCARA arms along a respective radial axisand rotate each of the first and second SCARA arms about the commonshoulder axis of rotation where the first radial axis is angled relativeto the second radial axis and the end effector of a respective arm isaligned with a respective radial axis, wherein each end effector isconfigured to hold at least one substrate and the end effectors arelocated on a common transfer plane.

In one aspect the substrate processing apparatus of claim furtherincludes a controller connected to the drive section and configured toeffect operation of the drive section to substantially preventinterference between the first and second SCARA arms during transport ofthe respective at least one substrate.

In one aspect the drive section comprises a four degree of freedom drivesystem.

In one aspect the drive section includes a coaxial drive shaftarrangement.

In one aspect the first SCARA arm includes an upper arm connected to thedrive section at the common shoulder axis, a forearm connected to theupper arm at an elbow axis and the end effector is coupled to theforearm at a wrist axis, and the second SCARA arm includes an upper armconnected to the drive section at the common shoulder axis, a forearmconnected to the upper arm at an elbow axis and the end effector iscoupled to the forearm at a wrist axis.

In one aspect the forearms are arranged relative to each other in anopposed configuration such that the forearm of the first SCARA arm islocated on an upper surface of a respective upper arm and the forearm ofthe second SCARA arm is located on a bottom surface of a respectiveupper arm.

In one aspect the drive section comprises a three degree of freedomdrive system connected to the first and second SCARA arms such that anangle between an upper arm of the first SCARA arm and an upper arm ofthe second SCARA arm is substantially fixed when the arms are rotatedabout the common shoulder axis.

In one aspect each of the end effectors is mounted to a respective armsuch that an angle between the end effectors substantially matches anangle between radially adjacent substrate holding stations accessible byeach arm.

In one aspect the substrate processing apparatus further includes acontroller connected to at least the drive section and at least onesensor connected to the controller, the controller being configured toobtain substrate detection signals from the at least one sensor andapply an offset to a position of an end effector of one of the first andsecond arms, wherein the offset is calculated depending on thermalexpansion of at least the substrate transport apparatus.

In one aspect the first arm is configured to allow the second arm topass between an upper arm and forearm of the first arm.

In another aspects a substrate processing apparatus includes a frame, afirst SCARA arm connected to the frame, the first SCARA arm includes anupper arm, a forearm rotatably coupled to the upper arm and an endeffector rotatably coupled to the forearm where the upper arm andforearm have unequal lengths, the first SCARA arm being configured toextend and retract along a first radial axis, a second SCARA armconnected to the frame, the second SCARA arm includes an upper arm, aforearm rotatably coupled to the upper arm and an end effector rotatablycoupled to the forearm where the upper arm and forearm have unequallengths, the second SCARA arm being configured to extend and retractalong a second radial axis, the upper arms of the first and second SCARAarms having a common shoulder axis of rotation, and a drive sectioncoupled to the first and second arms, the drive section being configuredto independently extend each of the first and second SCARA arms along arespective radial axis and rotate each of the first and second SCARAarms about the common shoulder axis of rotation where the first radialaxis is angled relative to the second radial axis and the end effectorof a respective arm is aligned with a respective radial axis, whereineach end effector is configured to hold at least one substrate and theend effectors are located on a common transfer plane.

In one aspect the drive section comprises a three degree of freedomdrive system connected to the first and second SCARA arms such that anangle between an upper arm of the first SCARA arm and an upper arm ofthe second SCARA arm is substantially fixed when the arms are rotatedabout the common shoulder axis.

In one aspect each of the end effectors is mounted to a respective armsuch that an angle between the end effectors substantially matches anangle between radially adjacent substrate holding stations accessible byeach arm.

In one aspect the substrate processing apparatus further includes acontroller connected to the drive section and configured to effectoperation of the drive section to substantially prevent interferencebetween the first and second SCARA arms during transport of therespective at least one substrate.

In one aspect the drive section comprises a four degree of freedom drivesystem.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosed embodiment asubstrate processing apparatus is provided. The substrate processingapparatus includes a common drive section disposed in a common drivecasing, a first arm coupled to the common drive section, a second armcoupled to the common drive section, where each of the first and secondarms includes an end effector and the end effectors are disposed insubstantially the same plane, the first and second arms being configuredfor independent extension, retraction and rotation where each of thefirst and second arms is configured so that the common drive section iscapable of driving the first and second arms through more thanthree-hundred-sixty degrees of rotation about a respective shoulderaxis, and a controller connected to the drive section and configured tocontrol the drive section to drive the arms through more thanthree-hundred-sixty degrees of rotation about the respective shoulderaxes and for extending and retracting the arms, the controller beingconfigured to recognize when rotation of the arms will result ininterference between the arms and position at least one of the first andsecond arms so that an axis of extension and retraction of at least oneof the first and second arms is within a region substantially withoutinterference with another of the first and second arms, and providenearly simultaneous picking and placing of substrates with the first andsecond arms.

In accordance with an aspect of the disclosed embodiment the drivesection is a four degree of freedom drive having four concentric driveshafts.

In accordance with an aspect of the disclosed embodiments the fourconcentric drive shafts are radially and axially supported by a nestedbearing arrangement where at least a portion of one bearings is mountedto a portion of another one of the bearings.

In accordance with an aspect of the disclosed embodiment, each armincludes an upper arm link and a forearm link wherein the upper armlinks are a different length than the forearm links.

In accordance with an aspect of the disclosed embodiment, the first armis configured to allow the second arm to pass between an upper arm andforearm of the first arm.

In accordance with an aspect of the disclosed embodiment each armincludes an end effector configured to support at least one substrate.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosed embodiment asubstrate processing apparatus includes at least one transport arm, anda drive section, the drive section including a nested bearingarrangement and a coaxial drive shaft assembly where the nested bearingarrangement includes concentrically stacked bearings configured toradially and axially support the drive shaft assembly.

In one aspect the bearings are configured such that at least one innerrace of one bearing is coupled to an outer race of another bearing.

In one aspect the drive section is a three degree of freedom drivesystem.

In one aspect the drive section is a four degree of freedom drivesection.

In one aspect an outer race of an outermost bearing in theconcentrically stacked bearings is coupled to a housing of the drivesystem and configured to support the drive shaft assembly and otherbearings in the concentrically stacked bearings.

In one aspect the substrate processing apparatus further includesferrofluidic seals disposed between the drive shafts of the drive shaftassembly for sealing an atmosphere within a housing of the drive systemfrom an atmosphere in which the first and second arms are disposed.

In one aspect the at least one transport arm includes two transport armseach having an end effector, where the end effectors are disposed in thesame plane.

In one aspect the at least one transport arm includes two transport armseach having an end effector, where the end effectors are disposed indifferent planes.

In another aspect of the disclosed embodiment a substrate processingapparatus includes a drive section, a substantially rigid base membercoupled to and supported by the drive section about a first axis ofrotation, the substantially rigid base member including a first armsection and a second arm section that are releasably coupled to eachother at the first axis of rotation to form a substantially rigid linkwhere the first and second arm sections are incapable of movementrelative to one another during substrate transport, a first transportarm rotatably mounted to and supported by one of the first and secondarm section of the base member about a second axis of rotation differentfrom the first axis of rotation, the first transport arm including atleast one end effector, and a second transport arm rotatably mounted toand supported by another one of the first and second arm section of thebase member about a third axis of rotation different from the first andsecond axes of rotation, the second transport arm including at least oneend effector, wherein the at least one end effector of the first arm andthe at least one end effector of the second arm have a common substratetransport plane and the releasable coupling adjustably joins the firstand second arm sections to each other at the common axis of rotation forchanging a predetermined angle of extension and retraction between thefirst transport arm and the second transport arm.

In one aspect the drive section is configured to rotate the base memberand the first and second transport arms as a unit about the first axisand independently extend and retract each of the first and secondtransport arms.

In one aspect the drive section is configured to rotate the base memberand the first and second transport arms as a unit about the first axisand simultaneously extend and retract the first and second transportarms such that extension and retraction of the first transport arm iscoupled to the extension and retraction of the second transport arm.

In one aspect the drive section is configured move the base member andthe first and second transport arms in a direction substantiallyparallel to at least the first axis of rotation.

In one aspect the substrate processing apparatus further includessubstrate holding stations wherein the angle between the axis ofextension of the first transport arm and the axis of extension of thesecond transport arm is substantially the same as an angle betweenadjacent substrate holding stations.

In one aspect the drive section includes at least a first and seconddrive axis comprising the releasable coupling where when coupled thefirst and second drive axes are driven in the same direction atsubstantially the same speed and when released at least one of the firstand second drive axis is driven independent of the other one of thefirst and second drive axis.

In one aspect the releasable coupling comprises mechanical fasteners.

In one aspect the substrate processing apparatus further includes anextension arm, wherein a first end of the extension arm is rotatablycoupled to the drive section and the base member is rotatably coupled toand supported by a second end of the extension arm.

In one aspect the drive section includes a motor configured to move oneof the first and second transport arm in a direction substantiallyparallel to a respective one of the second and third axes independentlyof movement of the other one of the first and second transport arm inthe direction substantially parallel to the respective one of the secondand third axes.

In one aspect the drive section further comprises a lift motorconfigured to move the base member and both the first and secondtransport arms as a unit in the direction substantially parallel to arespective one of the second and third axes.

In one aspect the drive section includes single axis motors disposed ateach of the first, second and third axes.

In one aspect each of the first and second transport arms includes anupper arm link rotatably mounted to the base member and connected to thedrive system for rotating the upper arm, a forearm link rotatablymounted to the upper arm link, and the at least one end effector isrotatably mounted to the forearm link, the at least one end effectorbeing slaved to rotation of the upper arm link through a transmissionsystem where the transmission system includes a pulley disposed at arespective one of the second and third axes and the pulley is fixedlycoupled to the base member.

In another aspect of the disclosed embodiment a substrate processingapparatus includes a drive section, a substantially rigid base membercoupled to and supported by the drive section about a first axis ofrotation, a first transport arm rotatably mounted to the base member, asecond transport arm rotatably mounted to the base member, wherein thebase member is configured to effect movement of one of the first andsecond transport arm in a direction substantially perpendicular to arespective axis of extension and retraction substantially independentlyof movement of the other one of the first and second transport arm inthe direction substantially parallel to the respective axis of extensionand retraction.

In one aspect the substantially rigid base member includes a first armsection and a second arm section that are releasably coupled to eachother at the first axis of rotation to form a substantially rigid linkwhere the first and second arm sections are incapable of movementrelative to one another during substrate transport.

In one aspect at least one end effector of the first arm and at leastone end effector of the second arm have a common substrate transportplane and the releasable coupling adjustably joins the first and secondarm sections to each other at the first axis of rotation for changing apredetermined angle of extension and retraction between the firsttransport arm and the second transport arm.

In one aspect the first transport arm is rotatably mounted to andsupported by one of the first and second arm sections of the base memberabout a second axis of rotation different from the first axis ofrotation, and the second transport arm is rotatably mounted to andsupported by another one of the first and second arm sections of thebase member about a third axis of rotation different from the first andsecond axes of rotation.

In another aspect of the disclosed embodiment a substrate processingapparatus includes a frame, a drive section connected to the frame, thedrive section having a drive axis of rotation, a first arm including anupper arm link connected to the drive section for rotation about thedrive axis of rotation, a forearm link rotatably coupled to the upperarm link about an elbow axis and an end effector rotatably coupled tothe forearm link about a wrist axis, and a second arm including an upperarm link connected to the drive section for rotation about the driveaxis of rotation, a forearm link rotatably coupled to the upper arm linkabout an elbow axis and an end effector rotatably coupled to the forearmlink about a wrist axis, wherein the first arm is configured so that thesecond arm is rotatable about the drive axis of rotation in a retractedconfiguration between the upper arm and forearm of the first armindependent of a position of the first arm.

In one aspect the drive section includes a coaxial shaft arrangementconfigured to connect the first and second arms to the drive section.

In one aspect the coaxial shaft arrangement includes an inner shaft, anouter shaft, a first intermediary shaft and a second intermediary shaft,the inner shaft and first intermediary shaft drive the second arm andthe second intermediary shaft and outer shaft drive the first arm, andthe first intermediary shaft is configured to axially support the secondintermediary shaft and the second intermediary shaft is configured toaxially support the outer shaft.

In one aspect the drive section further comprises at least two side byside motors coupled to the coaxial shaft arrangement.

In one aspect each of the at least two side by side motors comprises amulti-degree of freedom motor.

In one aspect each of the at least two side by side motors are harmonicdrives.

In one aspect the substrate processing apparatus further includessubstrate holding locations connected to the frame and a controller, thecontroller being configured to independently rotate one of the first andsecond arms to align an end effector of the one of the first and secondarms with a substrate holding station while the other one of the firstand second arms is transferring a substrate to the same or a differentsubstrate holding station to anticipate a subsequent substrate transfer.

It should be understood that the foregoing description is onlyillustrative of the aspects of the disclosed embodiment. Variousalternatives and modifications can be devised by those skilled in theart without departing from the aspects of the disclosed embodiment.Accordingly, the aspects of the disclosed embodiment are intended toembrace all such alternatives, modifications and variances that fallwithin the scope of the appended claims. Further, the mere fact thatdifferent features are recited in mutually different dependent orindependent claims does not indicate that a combination of thesefeatures cannot be advantageously used, such a combination remainingwithin the scope of the aspects of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A substrate processing apparatus comprising: aframe; a first arm connected to the frame, the first arm being a threelink arm configured to extend and retract along a first radial axis andhaving an upper arm, a forearm and an end effector; a second armconnected to the frame, the second arm being a three link arm configuredto extend and retract along a second radial axis and having an upperarm, a forearm and an end effector, where the first and second arms havea common shoulder axis of rotation; a drive section coupled to the firstand second arms, the drive section having two degrees of freedom andbeing configured to extend the first and second arms along respectiveradial axes and rotate the first and second arms about the commonshoulder axis of rotation so that the extension and retraction of thefirst and second arms along the respective radial axes is coupled andthe end effectors of each of the first and second arms movesubstantially in unison along a common transfer plane.
 2. The substrateprocessing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the extension and retraction ofthe first and second arms is a reciprocal extension and retraction sothat as one of the first and second arms extends the other one of thefirst and second arms retracts.
 3. The substrate processing apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein each end effector is configured to hold at least onesubstrate and the end effectors of the first and second arms are locatedcoincident on the common transfer plane.
 4. The substrate processingapparatus of claim 1, wherein the drive section includes a coaxial driveshaft arrangement.
 5. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1,wherein each of the end effectors is mounted to a respective arm suchthat an angle between the end effectors substantially matches an anglebetween radially adjacent substrate holding stations accessible by eacharm.
 6. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1, furthercomprising: a controller connected to at least the drive section; and atleast one sensor connected to the controller, the controller beingconfigured to obtain substrate detection signals from the at least onesensor and apply an offset to apposition of an end effector of at leastone of the first and second arms, wherein the offset is calculateddepending on thermal expansion of at least the substrate transportapparatus.
 7. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein:the upper arm of each of the first and second arms is connected to thedrive section at the common shoulder axis of rotation, the forearm ofeach of the first and second arms is connected to a respective upper armat an elbow axis and the end effector of each of the first and secondarms is connected to a respective forearm at a wrist axis.
 8. Asubstrate processing apparatus comprising: at least one transport arm;and a drive section, the drive section including a nested bearingarrangement and a coaxial drive shaft assembly where the nested bearingarrangement includes concentrically stacked bearings configured toradially and axially support the drive shaft assembly.
 9. The substrateprocessing apparatus of claim 8, wherein the bearings are configuredsuch that at least one inner race of one bearing is coupled to an outerrace of another bearing.
 10. The substrate processing apparatus of claim8, wherein the drive section is a two degree of freedom drive system.11. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 8, wherein the drivesection is a three degree of freedom drive system.
 12. The substrateprocessing apparatus of claim 8, wherein the drive section is a fourdegree of freedom drive section.
 13. The substrate processing apparatusof claim 8, wherein an outer race of an outermost bearing in theconcentrically stacked bearings is coupled to a housing of the drivesection and configured to support the coaxial drive shaft assembly andother bearings in the concentrically stacked bearings.
 14. The substrateprocessing apparatus of claim 8, further comprising ferrofluidic sealsdisposed between drive shafts of the coaxial drive shaft assembly forsealing an atmosphere within a housing of the drive section from anatmosphere in which the at last one transport arm is disposed.
 15. Thesubstrate processing apparatus of claim 8, wherein the at least onetransport arm includes two transport arms each having an end effector,where the end effectors are disposed in the same plane.
 16. Thesubstrate processing apparatus of claim 8, wherein the at least onetransport arm includes two transport arms each having an end effector,where the end effectors are disposed in different planes.
 17. Thesubstrate processing apparatus of claim 8, wherein each bearing of theconcentrically stacked bearings includes a bearing flange coupled to arespective pulley.
 18. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 17,wherein the drive section comprises a direct drive.
 19. A method forprocessing substrates, the method comprising: providing a substrateprocessing apparatus having a common drive section disposed in a commondrive casing, a first arm coupled to the common drive section, a secondarm coupled to the common drive section, where each of the first andsecond arms includes an end effector, the first and second arms beingconfigured for independent extension, retraction and rotation where eachof the first and second arms is configured so that the common drivesection is capable of driving the first and second arms through morethan three-hundred-sixty degrees of rotation about a shoulder axis;controlling, with a controller, the drive section to drive the armsthrough more than three-hundred-sixty degrees of rotation about theshoulder axis; controlling, with the controller, the drive section toextend and retract the first and second arms; recognizing, with thecontroller, when rotation of the first and second arms will result ininterference between the first and second arms and positioning at leastone of the first and second arms so that an axis of extension andretraction of at least one of the first and second arms is within aregion substantially without interference with another of the first andsecond arms; and providing, with the controller, nearly simultaneouspicking and placing of substrates with the first and second arms. 20.The method of claim 19, wherein the end effectors are disposed insubstantially the same plane.
 21. The method of claim 19, furthercomprising rotating the first and second arms as a unit about theshoulder axis.
 22. The method of claim 19, wherein each of the first andsecond arms are provided with an upper arm link and a forearm linkwherein the upper arm links are a different length than the forearmlinks.
 23. The method of claim 19, wherein each of the first and secondarms are provided with an end effector configured to support at leastone substrate
 24. The method of claim 19, wherein the first arm allowsthe second arm to pass between an upper arm and forearm of the firstarm.
 25. The method of claim 19, wherein the common drive section isprovided with a four degree of freedom drive having four concentricdrive shafts.
 26. The method of claim 25, further comprising radiallyand axially supporting the four concentric drive shafts with a nestedbearing arrangement where at least a portion of one bearing is mountedto a portion of another one of the bearings.